TNF inhibitors in Early Axial SpA Spares NSAID Use

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In a 2 year follow-up of the DESIR cohort of patients with early inflammatory back pain (627 patients), TNF inhibitor use was associated with a significantly greater decrease in the median NSAID intake (from 54.9 to 1.9 in TNFi pts versus from 41.9 to 22.3 in non-TNFi pts, p0.05).

Ustekinumab Bests TNF Inhibitors for Biologic Survival in Psoriasis

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Using drug survival as a global measure of a drug's effectiveness, safety and tolerability, UK investigators used a national pharmacovigilance cohort (British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register) to compare survival rates of the first biologic used in 3,523 biologic-naiv

Management of Digital Ulcers in Scleroderma

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Currently there are no FDA-approved medications for the treatment of digital ulcerations in the United States.  Digital ulcers are a common, unfortunate and difficult to manage consequence of the vascular obliteration and fibrosis that accompanies systemic sclerosis.

Adherence to Lupus Meds Linked to Increased Acute Hospitalizations

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Using Medicaid data from 2000-2006, 9,600 hydroxychloroquine new users were compared to 3,829 new users of immunosuppressive agents (IS) in patients with SLE. They assessed adherence using the MPR - the medication possession ratio.

Chikungunya Infection in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

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Intraarticular Hip Injection of Ketorolac Equals Steroid Responses

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Using ultrasound guided intraarticular injection of the hip, 98 OA of the hip patients were randomized to receive IA ketorolac or triamcinolone. At, 1, 3, and 6 mos pain scale and Harris hip scores were improved equally in both groups with no statistical differences.

Frequency of Infliximab Infusion Reactions

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A Canadian registry shows that in community-based infusion clinics, infusion reactions to IFX are uncommon and mild to moderate in nature.

Common HIPAA Mistakes in Practice

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This review details nine of the most common compliance missteps physicians are making regarding protected health information (PHI). These errors may result in legal trouble, but are avoidable. These include:

Gastroenterologists Use OTC Meds for GERD or Constipation

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When gastroenterologists responded to a nationwide survey regarding their management of GERD and contipation, half of the 830 gastroenterology respondents (23% response rate) prescribed for their patients OTC proton-pump inhibitors (PPI), 13% recommended an OTC histamine-2&nbs

AMA Requests 2-Year Grace Period for ICD-10 Implementation

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Physicians at the 2015 AMA Annual Meeting passed policy calling on CMS not to withhold claim payments based on coding errors, mistakes or malfunctions in the system for two years directly following ICD-10 implementation.

Is Ultrasound Changing Rheumatology Practice?

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The recent inclusion of ultrasound in the classification criteria of various rheumatic diseases, such as polymyalgia rheumatica and gout, implies this imaging technique is not onlyuseful as a valued diagnostic tool for individual cases, but also on a larger scale, it will improve doctors' ability to

Comorbidities Increasing in Arthritis Patients

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A CDC report shows comorbid conditions exist in 73.1% of all arthritis patients. Based on NHIS survey data, the number of patients with 2 or more comorbid conditions has increased from 21.8% in 2001 to 25.5% in 2012.  Most affected were older adults (≥65 years), women, wh

DECT Evidence of Urate Deposition is Associated with X-ray Damage in Gout

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Dalbeth and coworkers studied  92 patients with gout and using DECT scanning have shown those with urate deposition on DECT were 8.5-fold more likely to have erosive disease on plain radiographs.

Nonadherence to Self-Injected Biologics is High

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Researchers from the University of Manchester investigated self-reported adherence to biologic treatment in RA and found that 41% of patients were non-adherent to adalimumab therapy at least once, and 23% were nonadherent overall. http://bit.ly/1KA2

Osteoporosis Induced by Bariatric Surgery

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Although the cause is not clear, women who have weight loss surgery have a higher risk of thinning bones (osteoporosis) and fractures over time, according to a new analysis of a Swedish study.

Underuse & Overuse of DXA Screening

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A US Preventive Services Task Force recommends DEXA screening in women >65 yrs and only in women 65 yrs if there is a significan risk of fracture.  Amarnath and coworkers studied 50,995 women in primary care, aged 40-85 years, between 2006-2012.

Safety Reports & Updates – May 2015

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Sjogrens Syndrome and Familial Risk

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A population based study from Taiwan shows that Sjogren's syndrome, to have a prevalence of 0.05%. The prevalence of the syndrome, however, was 10 times higher among women (0.10%) compared to men (0.01%). Overall, having an affected first-degree relative with Sjogren's syndrome carried

Men are Less Likely to be Screened for Osteoporosis

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Study by Dashkova et al finds males less likely to have their bone density checked, but suffered worse outcomes. "We were surprised at how big a difference we found between men and women regarding osteoporosis," study author Dr.

Communication Gap Between MDs and Lupus Patients

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May 10 was World Lupus Day.