Capelli and colleagues have studied patients treated with ICIs and found two variants of inflammatory arthritis (IA) - a reactive arthritis like large joint arthritis with combination ICI therapy or a small joint IA with ICI monotherapy.

This retrospective review is drawn from the authors collection of the most impactful publications, research and news that occurred in 2017.  In no particular order, here are my top rheumatology advances, news and research reports for calendar year 2017.

Dalbeth and colleagues have published that among gout patients without palpable tophic and despite long term allopurinol, nearly half have monosodium urate (MSU) as detected by Dual-energy CT (DECT).  The total body urate deposition is even greater in those with higher sUA and evidence

Gabay and colleagues have reported the results of a novel new recombinant human IL-18 binding protein, tadekinig alfa, demonstrating its effectiveness in an open-label dose escalating study in patients with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD).

In animal studies, probenecid was shown to have positive inotropic effects on the cardiomyocyte mediated by transient receptor potential vanilloid 2 activation.

Dr Jack Cush reviews highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com. This week’s video is in two parts; for part Ii, go to https://buff.ly/2BM9MjL

An 8-week course of prednisone plus rituximab (Rituxin) offered good outcomes in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV), including complete remission, researchers reported.

Many protocols call for anticoagulation after total hip or total knee arthroplasty to prevent venous thromboembolism (proximal deep-vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism), and some reports have suggested a role for aspiring or direct oral anticoagulants as preventative therapy. The NEJM has reported that oral anticoagulation with rivaroxaban (Xarelto) followed by aspirin to be effective prophylaxis.

A Taiwanese study of 55,629 hypertensive patients shows no increased risk of  major cardiovascular events comparing outcomes of patients started on COX-2 selective NSAIDs compared with nonselective NSAIDs (including ibuprofen, diclofenac and naproxen).

New guidelines have been developed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) on how to assess and manage of immune checkpoint inhibitor side effects that are often autoimmune in nature.

A study of USA administrative claims data between 2000 to 2014 assessed the risk of cancer with exposure to tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) in pediatric patients and found that TNFi therapy did not significantly increase the risk compared those not receiving TNFi.

UK researchers have treated 248 patients with moderate to severe hand pain and radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) and demonstrated no benefit after 12 months of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), according to a recent article in Annals of Internal Medicine.

An analysis of the UK Biobank study found no link between calcium/vitamin D supplementation and incident cardiovascular events/deaths in a large prospective study of 475,255 men and women aged 40 to 69 years.

The 2018 American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting features recent findings of a phase III trial of apremilast in active Behçet’s Disease, showing significant reductions in oral ulcers at week 12 for those treated with apremilast 30 mg twice daily.

Researchers from Geisinger Medical center tested a pilot primary care gout management improvement intervention, and demonstrated significantly improved primary care gout management metrics when a treat to target approach was implemented. 

UK researchers have analyzed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the UK Clinical Practice Research Database and shown that chronic conventional DMARD (cDMARD) use was associated with 40% lower risk of dementia (nearly 50% with methotrexate use).

Listen in on the proceedings from the 2018 RWCS meeting in Maui, with excerpts from leading teachers in rheumatology. This podcast features presentations from Drs.

Listen in on the proceedings from the 2018 RWCS meeting in Maui with excerpts from leading teachers in rheumatology. This podcast features topics in dermatology, the fellowship program lead by Dr. Bernie Rubin and videos by the fellows.  Featured are Drs.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and recent research published this week on RheumNow.com. This week's report includes news and education from the RWCS meeting in Maui.

Listen in on the proceedings from the 2018 RWCS meeting in Maui with excerpts from leading teachers in rheumatology. This podcast features Drs. Martin Bergman, Jack Cush, Rachel Tate, Phil Aleksiejuk, Shubha Kollampare, Orrin Troum, and Alvin Wells. Listen here or on Stitcher, iTune, iPhone, Soundcloud or Google play.