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Methotrexate Safety with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection
Chronic liver disease, and in particular hepatitis B infection, is a contraindication to methotrexate (MTX) use.
Read ArticleTNF Inhibition and Heart Failure
Clinicians often face the issue of using a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) in patients with heart failure or cardiac disease. Here are the facts and data necessary to make a cogent decision to use or avoid TNFi.
Read ArticleCell Phone Study Proves Car Crash Risk
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers enrolled over 3,500 U.S. drivers, aged 16 to 98 years, and followed them for a three-year period after rigging their vehicles with internal video cameras and devices to track speed and location.
Read ArticleCurbside Consults - February 2016
The following is a collection of cases presented to me by rheumatology colleagues. Each has a challenging therapeutic or safety issue. Answers are based on experience with references from literature and guidelines.
Read ArticleTransdermal NSAID Touted as an Advance
Reuters reports that researchers at the University of Warwick have devised a new transdermal drug delivery patch that may change the future of pain management.
Read ArticleFebuxostat Safe in Gout with Moderate-Severe Renal Impairment
Renal impairment is a risk factor for gout and a barrier to optimal gout management. Many of the drugs used to treat gout require adjustment in those with renal disease.
Read ArticleHidradenitis Suppurativa Increases Cardiovascular Event Risk
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting exocrine glands with painful abscesses in intertriginous areas.
Read ArticleRWCS 2016 - Updates in AS, PsA and Lupus
Update on Ankylosing Spondylitis and Spondyloarthritis
Read ArticleSmoking and Age Linked to Development of Inflammatory Arthritis
A prospective cohort of RA first-degree relatives were prospectively studied for genetic and environmental factors (smoking, body mass index, education, and parity) and RA-related autoantibodies that may influence future development of inflammatory joint symptoms over a 2 year 
Read ArticlePrescribers More Likely to Escalate to Biologics than Triple DMARD Therapy
The paradigm for DMARD use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) begins with DMARD monotherapy and then escalates to combination therapy with either DMARDs or a combination of conventional DMARD plus a biologic DMARD (bDMARD).
Read ArticleFDA Advisory Arthritis Committee Votes to Approve the CT-P13 (infliximab) Biosimilar
On Tuesday February 9th Celltrion presented its biosimilar developmental data to the FDA as they sought approval for their CT-P13 (called Inflectra), a biosimilar of infliximab (Remicade).
Read ArticleFDA Reviews Celltrion's Remicade Biosimilar Today
The arthritis advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is scheduled to meet today, February 9th to review the efficacy and safety of Celltrion's biosimilar form of infliximab (Remicade) that is currently marketed in other countries.
Read ArticleParenteral Methotrexate Intolerance is High in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is commonly managed with methotrexate (MTX), with many pediatric rheumatologists preferring to use parenteral MTX for compliance and absorption reasons.
Read ArticleRacial Disparity in Cardiovascular Risks with Connective Tissue Disorders
Cardiovascular events account for significant morbidity and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other connnective tissue disorders (CTD). Investigators analyzed health records from a large U.S.
Read ArticleShould You Avoid Pneumococcal Vaccine in CAPS and Behcet's Patients
Althought EULAR currently recommends the pneumococcal vaccine be given to patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the vaccine in patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs, a recent brief report suggests it be
Read ArticleCochrane Review:NSAIDs Equally Effective for Axial Spondyloarthritis
Until the advent of TNF inhibitor therapy, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were the only effective treatment for ankylosing spondylitis or spondyloarthritis (SpA). More recently, several reports have suggested clinical and radiographic benefits to sustained NSAID use.
Read ArticleRheumatoid Arthritis, TNF inhibitors and the Risk of Skin Cancer
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are said to have a neutral risk for neoplasia, but this is because they have a lower risk of colon cancer and breast cancer but a higher risk of lung cancer, lymphoma and skin cancers.
Read ArticleComorbidities Start Early in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A Northern Sweden early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohort of 950 patients was enrolled starting in 1995. A validated questionnaire at RA onset (T0) and after 5 years (T5) after enrollment. Currently, 726 of these have had RA for ≥5 years.
Read ArticleNo Significant Increased Risk with TNF Inhibitors During Pregnancy
A population-based study of 1,272,424 live-born infants from Denmark and Sweden examined the prevalence of birth defects among infants born to 683 women with chronic inflammatory disease (inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, or psoriasis)
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