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Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in Lupus Reviewed
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare but catastrophic complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. Presentations are usually acute and the potential for significant morbidity and mortality risk mandates early diagnosis and aggressive interventions.
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Angiogenic Biomarkers Predict Adverse Outcomes Pregnancies in Lupus
The PROMISSE (Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) study has revealed several important lessons in lupus care.
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Only 1 in 5 Seek Treatment for Raynaud's
October is Raynaud's Awareness Month according to the Raynaud's Association (http://www.raynauds.org), and a whopping 80 percent of sufferers are not aware they have the disorder and do not seek treatment.
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New Drugs, New Hope for Pulmonary Fibrosis
The Wall Street Journal reports that new drug development offers hope for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare, progressive fibrosing lung disorder that affects nearly 200,000 Americans, mostly middle-aged and older adults.
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VEGF121-Fibrin as a Potential Therapy for Skin Ulcers in Systemic Sclerosis
The etiology of systemic sclerosis (SSc) remains unclear, but appears to involve complex pathogenic interactions between the immune system, the vasculature and fibrotic processes.
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Antibodies to 14-3-3η Found in Large Vessel Vasculitis
14-3-3η (eta) is a new test that may be useful in diagnosing patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. The test is 77% sensitive and 93% specific for RA and developers have found that antibodies against 14-3-3η may correlate with drug responsiveness.
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High False Negative Rate with PFTs in Scleroderma
Researchers in Zurich studed 102 systemic sclerosis with serial PFTs and high-resolution computed tomography of the chest (HRCT). They found significant interstitial lung disease (ILD) by HRCT in 63 percent.
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Advances in Uveitis Associated with Juvenile Arthritis
Uveitis is a common association of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) that has previously been characterized by poor visual prognosis with limited options for effective treatment.
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Serious Infections are Increasing in Lupus
Tektonidou and coworkers have analyzed hospitalized serious infections (SIE) involving lupus patients over a 15 year period and show that SIE in SLE have increased substantially between 1996 and 2011, and in 2011 are 12 times higher than seen in patients without SLE.
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Poor Compliance in SLE Leads to More ER Visits and Hospitalizations
Feldman and coworkers have analyzed US Medicaid claims data from 9,600 hydroxychloroquine and 3,829 new immunosuppressive new users with a diagnosis of SLE.
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Priorities for NIAMS Research Funding
Dr. Steven Katz describes how NIAMS sets priorities for investing congressionally-appropriated funds.
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Alemtuzumab Effective in Behcet's Syndrome
Behcet's disease is difficult to treat and often has an over-reliance on corticosteroid use. Alemtuzumab (previously known as Campath-1H) has been studed in patients with Behcet's.
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Hypothyroidism is Increased in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
In a study that compared seropositive (RF+, CCP+) and seronegative RA with healthy participants, the frequency of thyroid antibodies was assessed.
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Rituximab Induced Neutropenia
In reviewing submitted abstracts for the 2014 ACR meeting, I was surprised by several abstracts focusing on neutropenia in patients receiving rituximab.
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Metformin May Improve Netosis Driven Lupus Activity
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are first line defense tools used to trap microbial pathogens.
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10 Year Study Identifies Predictors of Skin Progression in Systemic Sclerosis
The European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) cohort has reported the results of their prospective study to identify onset symptoms and risk factors for skin sclerosis and digital ulcers (DUs) in early onset systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.
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Bidirectional Association Between Uveitis and Psoriatic Disease
A Danish population, claims-based study studied the the associations between 74,129 patients with incident psoriasis and 13,114 with incident uveitis between 1997 and 2011.
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The FASSCINATE study presented at EULAR 2015 was instrumental in tocilizumab (TCZ) getting a nod from the FDA to develop TCZ for scleroderma.
Read ArticleB cell Inhibition with Epratuzumab Fails in Two Phase III Lupus Trials
Targeting B cells in systemic lupus erythematosus, the prototypic autoimmune disorder, has long been an attractive target for researchers. Despite negative trials with rituximab and the limited success of belimumab, efforts to inhibit B cell activity have continued.
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2015 Guidelines for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, fibrosing form of interstitial pneumonia, with poor survival rates of nearly 50% at 3 years.
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