Increased Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Ankylosing Spondylitis

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Although ankylosing spondylitis affects a predominantly male population, the ratio of men to women has declined from 9-10:1 in earlier studies to more recent estimates of 2-3:1 (F:M).

Physicians Bash Meaningful Use at Open Forum

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Members of two professional medical societies griped about what they view as the Obama administration's inept attempts to regulate electronic health records (EHRs) and shared their visions for the ideal online platform at a second "town hall" meeting here Tuesday.

DAS28-CRP or DAS28-ESR: Are they Biosimilar? (Best of 2015)

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The disease activity score (DAS28) has been developed as a dynamic assessment tool and a therapeutic response measure for use in clinical trials and practice.

Herpes Zoster Increases the Risk of Stroke and MI

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At the 2015 ACR annual meeting in San Francisco, Len Calabrese, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic, gave a plenary session talk linking "shingles" infection to an increased risk of CVA (

RA Guidelines, Methotrexate and Mortal Risks in Gout: November 2015 top social media news

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Here's what you may have missed: in November 2015, RheumNow published 80 tweets on news, research and teaching points that impact the rheumatology community. We had a reach (impressions) of 79,100, 79 mentions, and over 3399 visits to RheumNow.com to check out what we publish.

Skin Cancer Risk in ANCA+ Vasculitis

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Previously, granulomatous polyangitis (GPA or Wegener's) was known to have an increase risk of cancer, especially bladder cancer, presumeably due to cyclophosphamide (CTX) exposure.

In RA TNF-Inhibitors Prove To Be Durable Choice

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Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were less likely to discontinue their first biologic when that treatment was a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor than if it was a non-TNF biologic, and especially if treatment was initiated prior to 2005.

Chronic Digital Ulcers in Systemic Sclerosis Portends More Complications

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A prospective, international observational study of systemic sclerosis patients enrolled in the Digital Ulcers Outcome (DUO) Registry: Patients were required to have ≥3 follow-up visits over at least a 2 year observation period between 2008-2013.

Opioid Use Ups the Risk of Hospitalized Infections in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Researchers from Vanderbilt University have studied the issue of opioid use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether this influences infection risk.

Psoriasis May Not Be a Risk for CV Events

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Patients with psoriatic skin and joint disease are uniquely susceptible to multiple comorbidities, obesity and possibly more cardiovascular risks. In rheumatoid arthritis, the increased CV risk and CV events have been closely aligned with inflammation and disease activity.

Surviving Infection on DMARDs or Biologics

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Sepsis is a dangerous and potentially fatal consequence of serious infections (SIE), particularly in susceptible populations such as the elderly and immunosuppressed. Published evidence points toward the potential role of TNF in development of sepsis.

ACP Releases Paper on Impact of 'Concierge' on Patient Care

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The American College of Physicians released a position paper exploring factors driving the growth of “concierge” and other “direct patient contracting practices” (DPCPs) and the “limited” evidence on their impact on patient care.

Concern Still Lingers for Silicone Breast Implants

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What do you tell your patients who are considering augmentation mammoplasty? Or who question the safety of prior implants?

Anifrolumab Improves Lupus Outcomes

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Furie and coworkers presented the results of a 52-week phase II trial of anifrolumab (ANIFR), a type I interfernon (IFN) receptor antagonist in patients with lupus (SLE).

Mycophenolate in Scleroderma Lung Disease

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Clements et al presented the results of their Scleroderma Lung Study II wherein PSS patients with interstitial lung disease were randomized to receive either 3 grams daily of mycopheonolate or 2mg/kg/day of cyclophosphamide.

Improving Cardiovascular Trends in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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 Myasoedova and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic have reported their new data that demonstrates improving cardiovascular (CV) mortality rates in current RA patients treated with modern drugs.

Chondroitin Superior to Celecoxib in Knee OA Cartilage Loss

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A study of 194 knee OA patients received either 1200 mg chondroitin sulfate or celecoxib 200 mg daily, and clinical and MRI outcomes were assessed at 1 and 2 years.

Hip Fracture Risk Factors in the Elderly

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As risk of hip fracture increases with advanced age, our knowledge of risk factors for hip fracture among very old people remains limited.

Knee OA (not Hand) is Associated with Higher Mortality in Women

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"Doc....the pain is killing me."

This oft heard patient complaint may be truer than you think.

No Correlation Between Urate Crystal Identification and Cardiovascular Risk

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A Danish cohort study examined patients with hyperuricemia  and compared outcomes in those proven to have urate crystal deposition (317 patients) and matched 1:1 to patients without urate crystals.