CMAJ reports that seniors are more likely to survive a hip fracture if the surgery is done as soon as they’re admitted to the hospital - suggesting hospitals should expedite operating room access for patients whose surgery has already been delayed for nonmedical reasons.

The current edition of JAMA Internal Medicine describes an Asian gout patient who presents with an allopurinol hypersensitivity reaction that could have been diagnosed by testing for HLA-B*5801.

Saag and colleagues report the results of a 3 month phase III trial demonstrating equal efficacy between febuxostat extended release (XR) and immediate release (IR) formulations in patients with gout.  and normal or impaired renal function.

New developments with the FDA and new scientific findings are adding momentum to two drugs experts believe are game-changers in osteoporosis treatment.

A single center study of psoriatic arthritis patients has shown that rheumatologist-judged inflammatory back pain (IBP) and criteria defining IBP may not perform well when ascertaining axial involvement in PsA patients. 

A prospective study of psoriasis patients from the British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register demonstrated that infliximab therapy yielded 2-3 times more serious infection than seen in those treated with non-biologic DMARDs or methotrexate (MTX).

As physicians turn away from opioids, are they resorting to options that may also be unsafe?

The New York Times reports that some physicians are using the anti-inflammatory drug, Depo-Medrol, for intraspinal injections to manage painful spinal and perispinal disorders.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) suppression helped reverse symptoms of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) for one patient in a case study that may implicate inflammation in the development of the condition.

Despite its exorbitant price tag and paucity of supportive clinical evidence, ACTH (corticotropin) sales have increased in the United States. A recent JAMA article examined its use by specialists and found that those who prescribe ACTH (including rheumatologists, nephrologists, neurologists) received corticotropin-related payments from the products sole manufacturer, Mallinckrod.

JAMA Internal Medicine reports that exposure to statin medications may be linked to histologically confirmed idiopathic inflammatory myositis.

Cannabis therapy is legal in 30 states in the US, and soon to be legal in Canada and Great Britian, but the US Veterans Administration continues to reject medical marijuana as a therapeutic option - even in states where it is approved.

Palindromic rheumatism (PR) is an intermittent inflammatory arthropathy with episodes of arthritis and/or periarticular inflammation that wax and wane over time. It is thought that up to one-third of such patients may go on to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.

The Annals of Rheumatic Disease have published the recently developed Latin American clinical practice guidelines for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) addressing the best pharmacologic interventions for musculoskeletal, mucocutaneous, kidney, cardiac, pulmonary, neuropsychiatric, hemat

The majority of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who achieved a state of minimal disease activity (MDA) after 6 months of treatment with adalimumab (Humira) maintained that response through 24 months, a large observational study found.

Gout, the ancient disease of kings is usually treated with the ancient (and costly) drug colchicine, often without consideration of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) or corticosteroids.

A consensus panel was convened to develop consensus-based clinical and therapeutic recommendations for the use of methotrexate (MTX) in the management of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) patients.  

The Journal of Rheumatology reports a population-based study demonstrating that gout is associated with an increased risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED) suggesting that hyperuricemia and inflammation may be independent risk factors for ED.

Dan Wallace and colleagues report in Lancet the results of a phase II study of the selective baricitinib, an oral selective Janus kinase (JAK1 and JAK2) inhibitor, in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, demonstrating the efficacy and safety of JAK1/2 inhibition with baricitinib as a new potential oral therapy for SLE.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the news and social media on RheumNow.com in the past week.