All News
The Fate of Palindromic Rheumatism
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).
Read Article
Consensus Guidelines for Methotrexate in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
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.
Read Article
The RheumNow Week in Review – Cocoon Therapy? (7.20.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the news and social media on RheumNow.com in the past week.
Read Article
The Lung in RA: Little Progress
The progress that has been seen in the management of many aspects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not been paralleled for the pulmonary disease that remains the second most common cause of death among these patients, an Australian expert reported here at the annual meeting of the Florida Society
Read Article
Ultrasound Tenosynovitis Predicts RA Development
Musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) has become a more widely used tool in rheumatology clinical practice. This study of early inflammatory arthritis patients shows that US-defined digit flexor tenosynovitis was more predictive of subsequent rheumatoid arthritis than findings of ACPA positivity or US-defined joint synovitis.
Predictors of Methotrexate Non-Response
New research from a UK study suggests that nonresponse to oral or subcutaneous MTX was seen in 43% and is predicted by seronegativity, higher disease activity measures and higher anxiety scores.
Read Article
The RheumNow Week in Review –Fateful Outcomes in Rheumatology (7.13.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com. Fateful outcomes in Rheumatology, what happens to Seronegatives, IL-23 fails, MRI progression, Not all inflammatory back pain becomes SpA:
Read Article
The Diverse Fate of Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
A Finnish Rheumatology Center followed 435 early, seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients for 10-years and found that only 3% became erosive or seropositive RA.
Read Article
Defining Refractory RA by Biologic Use
A study from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR) has shown that biologic refractory disease is seen in at least 6% of patients who have ever received a biologic DMARD (bDMARDs).
Read Article
Hydroxychloroquine Being Over-Dosed with New Guidelines?
Hydroxychloroquine retinopathy prevention guidelines have revised from ideal body weight-based dosing to actual body weight-based dosing; the question remains whether these have been adopted in clinical practice.
A database of nearly 21,000 new HCQ users from a UK general population database studied HCQ dosing and use between 2007 and 2016. Specifically they examined whether users were subjected to excess HCQ dosing per ophthalmology guidelines (defined by exceeding 6.5 mg/kg of IBW and 5.0 mg/kg of ABW).
Best of 2017: New EULAR Guidelines on Behçet's
At the EULAR 2016 meeting, new EULAR recommendations for the management of Behçet's disease (BD) were presented.
Read Article
The RheumNow Week in Review – Life Savers for Rheumatologists (6.29.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews selected news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
Does RA Have a Prodrome?
A pattern of increased primary care visits and joint complaints during the 2 years before rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was diagnosed were predictive of the diagnosis, a British case-control study found.
Read Article
Five Barriers to Biosimilar Adoption in the US
A recent Deloitte analysis of the biosimilar market in the USA suggests there are defined obstacles to biosimilar use that must be dealt with, especially as the current administration is seeking to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs for US consumers.
Read Article
Can DMARDs Delay Rheumatoid Onset?
Preclinical rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a hot new area wherein at risk individuals (seropositive, first degree relatives of RA patients, etc.) are being studied to assess the triggers that lead to progression to RA or whether therapies can be used to avert the onset of RA.
Read Article
The RheumNow Week in Review – EULAR18 Epilogue (6.22.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews EULAR 2018 and the past week's news and reports from RheumNow.com, including DMARDs in OA, the price of Penicillamine, Infections when ANCA+, CV outcomes in gout, NSAIDs in Pregnancy and Seropostive vs. Seronegative Outcomes.
Read Article
NSAID Use Around Conception Increases Miscarriage Risk
A study from the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology analyzed pregnant women from the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system and compared newly pregnant women who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen or neither showed that using NSAIDs around conception carried a more than four-fold higher risk of early miscarriage. (Citation source: http://bit.ly/2tqNWN6)
Read Article
The Stress - Autoimmune Disease Connection
"Can stresss be the cause of my autoimmune disease?" is an often launched question met with shrugs of uncertainty or strongly held beliefs rooted in bias moreso than fact.
Swedish investigators have analyzed a large registry cohort and shown that exposure to stress-related disorders yields a significantly increased risk of autoimmune disease. They analyzed 106,464 patients with stress-related disorders, with 126,652 full siblings, and over a million non-stressed matched controls to assess a future risk of autoimmune disease.
Read Article
Seronegative and Seropositive Rheumatoids Respond Equally Well
A cohort study of 241 DMARD-naive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, meeting either 1987 ACR or the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA, compared the baseline status and long term outcomes of seronegative (SNRA) and seropositive (SPRA).
Read Article
EULAR 2018 - Day 4 Report
The EULAR 2018 wound down on Saturday with fewer oral presentations but many posters. In my last report I put together a collection of impressions and some thematic highlights not covered in previous reports.
Read Article
