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2026 Resolutions (1.9.2026)

Jack Cush, MD

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, announcements and journal articles from this past week on RheumNow.com. More on Variable bendability, a better way to treat RA, and a novel advance for GLP1a in PsA; and 2026 Resolutions!

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Best of 2025: Contraception in SLE

Lisa Sammaritano MD

Pregnancy in SLE gets a lot of press in the rheumatology literature, and deservedly so, since pregnancy risks can be markedly increased. It was not that many years ago that women with SLE were counseled to avoid pregnancy.

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101 Meditteranean pregnant RA compared to 236 non-RA controls. HCQ & SSZ (45-73%) most used; biologics less (25%). RA had signif more adverse preg outcomes - LBW (OR 3), C-section (OR 2.55), fewer neonatal deaths (OR 0.38). RA had more miscarriages (20 v 1%) & fewer live births https://t.co/3nTdXEbBHI
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100 women w/ severe preeclampsia (PE) compared to 40 pregnant controls. antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) was significantly more prevalent iin PE women (34% vs 10%) [OR = 4.63]. aPL positivity was also linked to both early and late severe PE [OR = 4-5, p = .008]. https://t.co/YhwplHil1y
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Assess Reproductive Health in SLE Clinic Visits Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) mainly affects women of childbearing age, increasing their risk of infertility, miscarriages, and pregnancy complications due to disease factors and medications. Rheumatologists should actively https://t.co/hqWSpqJ6HN

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Best of 2025: Contraception in SLE Pregnancy in SLE gets a lot of press in the rheumatology literature, and deservedly so, since pregnancy risks can be markedly increased. It was not that many years ago that women with SLE were counseled to avoid pregnancy. As recently as 2004, https://t.co/vBb0vyqod8
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QD Clinics - Mission: APP Partners in Care Week 1 QD300: Flare or Beware (featuring Lindsay Tom, PA-C and Phong Nguyen, MD) QD301: CAR-T Cell Therapy for Lupus (featuring Philip Mease, MD and Cayla Alexander, DNP) QD302: Unweanable PMR (featuring Jack Cush, MD, and Leilani Law, https://t.co/Ow2KMAzwGK
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WHO recommendations on GLP-1 agonists: 1) conditional recommendation - GLP-1 drugs can be used for for long-term obesity treatment by adults, except pregnant women; 2) GLP-1a use should be paired with a healthy diet and physical activity. Access to these drugs is a problem. https://t.co/jMa7rbJPby
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Japanese ANSWER cohort (3623 RA pts on bDMARDs or JAKi) included looked at T2T in 118 RA pregnancies. 93% had full-term deliveries; 85% w/ remission or LDA maintained throughout preg. 35/118 cont' bDMARDs during preg & had signif lower DAS28-CRP vs those D/C (n 24) (P = 0.007). https://t.co/uG8m7RzSiU
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Postmenopausal women on estrogen hormone therapy (HT) had a modest incr risk (HR 1.33; 1.32-1.35; P < .001). of a new autoimmune Dz over next 5-10 yrs (vs those not on HT) TriNetX study of 889,413 HT vs 2,6 mill (not HT) - 6.7% vs 5.3% developed autoimmune dz at 5 yrs. https://t.co/fsi32XIzLe
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Swedish Birth Registry study of adverse preg outcomes (APOs) after SSc Dx [n=941] or w/in 3 yrs [39] or > 3yrs pre-Dx [839]. SSc women have incr APOs post-Dx, including preeclampsia (RR 3.8), preterm (3.3), C-section (2.5); but also incr APO risk w/in 3 yrs of Dx
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Systematic review of 10 studies showed TNFi exposure in utero not assoc w/ incr risk of infant severe infxn (4 RCTs); same for breast milk exposure (2 RCTs). Infant vaccination outcomes unaffected by TNFi use, but rec delaying BCG vaccination if TNFi exposed https://t.co/02Nn6TuzR3
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Marketscan claims study of 62,813 IMID women w/ 70,529 pregnancies & 69,412 births, 4,485 (7.1%) were exposed to at least one TNFi during pregnancy & 3,559 postpartum. TNFi use NOT assoc w/ SIE risk during Preg (HR 1.39; 0.95-2.05) or postpartum (HR 1.22; https://t.co/NsxOLpT0ds
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