Staying on a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) throughout major surgery has generatlly been associated with higher rates of perioperative infection (https://buff.ly/2iBFVjp).  On the other hand, discontinuation of the TNFi prior to surgery is associated with lower ra

Drug Safety has published a systematic review of the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and finds numerous reports of thromboembolic adverse events (AEs) associated with two currently marketed Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and ruxolitinib (Jakafi).

The PRECISION trial reported last year that celecoxib appears to be safer than the NSAIDs naproxen or ibuprofen in treating osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis patients who are at increased cardiovascular risk. New data suggests that adding aspirin may nullify this advantage, according to a study presented at the annual American Heart Association meeting and reported by Medscape.

Researchers from the Oregon Health Science Center have reported that fibromyalgia can be distinguished from chronic pain by primary care providers (PCPs) who employ two simple screening tests: BP cuff-evoked pain and a single patient question, and pain induced by pinching the Achilles tendon.&nbs

On Friday, December 1st, the FDA approved Lilly's drug Taltz (ixekizumab) for use in adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. 

Taltz, an IL-17 inhibitor, has previously been approved for plaque psoriasis where it has shown high level PASI75 and PASI100 responses.

JAMA Dermatology reports that clinical remission was relatively uncommon in dermatomyositis, despite aggressive systemic therapy, but was best in those receiving mycophenolate during a 3-year study.

A new study presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) shows that obese people with substantial weight loss may significantly slow down the rate of joint space narrowing (cartilage degeneration) in the knee cartilage, but only if they lose weight through diet and exercise or di

Women with the autoimmune inflammatory myopathies dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) are at increased risk for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, a nationwide retrospective study found.

A metanalysis published in BMJ Open shows that for half of the world’s population, primary care doctor visits last less than five minutes and that the range is from 48 seconds in Bangladesh to 22.5 minutes in Sweden (US PCP visit averages at 20 minutes).

Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine have published a new report showing that arthritis affected 91 million adults in the US in 2015 or 37% of the poplulation. Their prevalence estimate is 68% higher than previously reported arthritis national estimates. 

Annals of Rheumatic Disease reports that gout is associated with higher work absenteeism and thus, increased costs for society due to productivity loss.

Lancet reports that a common surgical intervention, arthroscopic sub-acromial decompression is ineffective compared to arthroscopy or no surgery at all.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham have shown that while Vitamin D may be effective at preventing the onset of inflammation, it is less effective once inflammatory disease is established - largely because, once established, rheumatoid arthritis leads to vitamin D insensitivity.

Reuters reports that the opioid crisis has cost the United States as much as $504 billion in 2015,  based on a White House economists report released this week. The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) said the toll from the opioid crisis represented 2.8% of gross dom

The following is a collection of AS/SpA-specific mentions culled from RheumNow's coverage of the Annual ACR 2017 meeting in San Diego.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com. This week he covers FDA warnings on gout drugs, steroid use in Australia, biosimilars lost savings and methotrexate hepatotoxicity in psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory disease with systemic effects beyond the joints. While RA patients are known to have signficantly higher risks for cardiovascular disease and venous thromboembolic events, an association with stroke (CVA) is unclear.

JAMA presents a French report on the cancer risk of thiopurine or tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) use in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and finds a raised risk for lymphoma in IBD compared to those not treated with these agents.  (Citation source 

A study from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology showing that the risk of incident liver disease doubled when patients with psoriasis (PsO) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) take methotrexate (MTX), but not when

Care to learn what you missed at last weeks ACR 2017 meeting in San Diego?  Here are 4 one hour audio podcasts - each with a compliation of 2-4 minute reports from Drs. Cush, Kavanaugh, the RheumNow Faculty and other rheumatology thought leaders and researchers.  Another good way to learn from RheumNow.