The number of U.S. patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy declined from 2015 to 2023, but co-prescribing of opioids with gabapentinoids increased, prescription data showed.

The risk of malignancy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving biologic agents was evaluated by metanalysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and found no significant increased risk of malignancy compared with other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or with placebo.

JAMA has published a current Clinical Guidelines Synopsis on the Management of Crohn Disease (CD) in Adults.

In this cross-sectional study of 602 Finnish adults undergoing bilateral shoulder magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical assessment, found abnormalities in nearly everyone over age 40yrs, regardless if asymptomatic or symptomatic.

Calcinosis cutis (CaC) is a common and disabling non-lethal manifestations in systemic sclerosis (SSc). This study used SSc patients from the EUSTAR database to clinically characterize patients and identify risk factors for CaC development.

In 2024, the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CMA) and the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) published a comprehensive set of 56 treatment recommendations for the management of axial spondyloarthritis. This first update is focused on the reassessment of IL-17i recommendations.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and major articles from this week, including FDA safety warnings, reports from AAD, PsA trials.

The Journal of Neurology has posted a review and update of Primary CNS vasculitis (PCNSV),  also termed primary angiitis of the CNS (PACNS). PCNSV is rare, potentially fatal, and highly treatable, making timely recognition and accurate diagnosis critical. 

Yesterday the FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication alerting patients and health care professionals about postmarketing identification of serious (drug induced) liver injury, including fatal cases, associated with the use of avacopan (Tavneos) in patients with ANCA- associated vasculitis.

RA-ILD represents the most severe extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis, affecting an estimated 1% of the adult population in the US and Northern Europe.

A randomized clinical trial of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in fibromyalgia showed meaningful improvement in pain for 6 months when combined with physical therapy (PT). 

The NEJM reports that brepocitinib, an oral TYK2–JAK1 inhibitor, was studied in a phase 3 trial of refractory dermatomyositis (DM) patients and shown to have significant benefits at the higher dose.