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Methotrexate and the Risk of Lung Disease
Rheumatology has a comprehensive overview of methotrexate (MTX) and the risk of lung injury, MTX-related pneumonitis and interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Past reports suggest the frequence of MTX-pneumonitis to be between 0.3 and 11.6%; r
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RheumNow Podcast- Half-Empty Flu (2.21.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Tofacitinib Effective in Refractory Still's Disease
Fourteen cases reported from mainland China suggest that tofacitinib (TOFA) may be effective in patients with refractory adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD), further adding to a growing list of potential use of JAK inhibition in managing inflammatory, and now autoinflammatory, disease.
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Seronegativity on the Rise in RA
Although the overall incidence rates of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have remained stable over recent decades, there has been a significant increase in seronegative cases, a retrospective study showed.
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Adverse Effects of Low-Dose Methotrexate from the CIRT Trial
Low-dose methotrexate (LD-MTX) was studied in high risk cardiac patients in the cardiac intervention trial (CIRT), but was prematurely ended for not showing a change in cardiovascular event rates. Nonetheless this trial studied the safety and adverse event rates of LD-MTX and those results are reported in the current issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
RheumNow Podcast - RWCS Quick Hits (2.14.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the 2020 RWCS meeting in Maui, Hawaii.
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Alcohols Net Zero Effect in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A report from The National Databank for Rheumatic Disease addressed the impact of alcohol on disease activity and mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and found that alcohol use was not associated with changes in disease activity or mortality, after addressing confounders.
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DMARD Inertia by Registry Rheumatologists
A registry study of metric use (primarily RAPID3 and CDAI) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients shows that, even in the face of moderate or high disease activity, treatment changes by rheumatologists were relatively low (35.6–54.6%).
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RheumNow Podcast- Best Biologics (2.7.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Bariatric Weight Loss Fails to Alter RA Risk
Obesity has been shown to be a risk factor for the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and also shown to affect outcomes by impairing responses to many DMARD therapies. A Swiss study of RA patients undergoing bariatric surgery failed to show that bariatric surgery and weight loss had any effect on the incidence of RA.
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Aspirin after Hip or Knee Arthoplasty
JAMA Internal Medicine has reported that use of low dose aspirin for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis after total hip and knee replacement is equal in efficacy to other anticoagulants.
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Start with Anti-TNF in RA? Not So Fast
The suggestion to hit rheumatoid arthritis (RA) early and hard with biologic therapies itself took a hit in a new study.
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Limited Advantage to Very Early vs. Delayed Etanercept in RA
The VEDERA study sought to confirm whether the very early introduction of first-line etanercept+methotrexate (ETN+MTX) was superior to treat-to-target MTX (MTX-TT) in patients with early RA.
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RheumNow Podcast- 2019 EULAR RA Guidelines (1.31.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Knee Replacements Last 25 Years
UK registry reports that greater than 80% of total knee replacements can last for 25 years.
The outcomes regarding the duration and durability of knee arthroplasties is sketchy, with many orthopedists projecting a 15 to 20 year survivial. Hence the need for an appraisal of the data.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Antibodies Linked With COPD
Women who were seropositive for anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and ultimately went on to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were also at increased risk for being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), analysis of data from the Nurses' Health Study showed.
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ENTRACTE trial studied the risk of major adverse CV events (MACE) in 3080 RA pts Rx with tocilizumab (TCZ) vs etanercept (ETN), and found no increased risk of MACE in TCZ patients compared to ETN (HR 1.05 (95% condence interval 0.77–1.43). https://t.co/QxOlzfDcZD
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NSAIDs May Impair Healing if Taken Nightly
A new study in Scientific Reports suggest that circadian rhythms play an important role in wound healing, and that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be disruptive if taken at night given primary healing that occurs in a body at night.
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2019 EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The 2019 update to the EULAR recommendations on the use of synthetic and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been published in Annals of Rheumatic Disease - highlighting the efforts of an international consensus committee effort.
In the end, the task force put forth 5 overarching principles and 12 recommendations concerning use of conventional synthetic DMARDs, glucocorticoids, biological DMARDs, biosimilar DMARDs, and targeted synthetic DMARDs (the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors tofacitinib, baricitinib, filgotinib, upadacitinib).
RheumNow Podcast- A Good First Impression (1.24.20)
Dr Jack Cush comments on this week's journal articles, reviews and studies.
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