Dr. Jack Cush reviews this week's news and journal reports featured on RheumNow.com. PsA v. non-PsA pregnancies, Still's disease, lupus, nutritional supplements and dietary interventions, use of cannabis, tanezumab in OA, CBD oils and more.

NEJM reports on the utility of C-reactive protein (CRP) testing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, showing that CRP guided prescribing of antibiotics for exacerbations of COPD in primary care clinics resulted in a lower percentage of patients who reported antibiotic use.

Editor's note: July 1 - 5, RheumNow is running the best of the EULAR 2019 meeting. At EULAR 2019, Madrid, several recommendations including RA, SLE, and Sjogren’s syndrome have been developed. Agreement for principles with respect to the treatment of immune mediated adverse events from cancer immunotherapy are lacking.

Editor's note: July 1 - 5, RheumNow is running the best of the EULAR 2019 meeting. Dr. Jack Cush reports from Madrid on several novel presentations from EULAR 2019, including low-dose steroids in hand OA, ABA vs. ADA in double positive RA patients, psoriasis predictors of PsA, tildrakizumab and more.

Editor's note: July 1 - 5, RheumNow is running the best of the EULAR 2019 meeting. Power Doppler signal on baseline ultrasound exam may well help stratify anti-CCP positive patients with musculoskeletal symptoms but no clinical synovitis, according to data from the Leeds Institute of Rhe

Editor's note: July 1 - 5, RheumNow is running the best of the EULAR 2019 meeting. It was a full and lively second day in Madrid with sessions dedicated to Lupus, RA, Sjogren’s, imaging, rare diseases, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Here are a few of the highlights from day two at EULAR 2019.

Editor's note: July 1 - 5, RheumNow is running the best of the EULAR 2019 meeting. Here are a few of the highlights from day 1 EULAR in Madrid, including another IL-23 inhibitor, BTK inhibition, abatacept in Sjogren's syndrome, don't repeat the ANA, and drug free remission in systemic JIA.

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

JAMA reports that there is a trend of increasing mortality from falls in older US adults between 2000 to 2016 and that mortality rates are increased with increasing age. 

A large administrative claims analysis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients undergoing arthroplasty has shown no difference among biologics with regard to the risk of infections, but corticosteroid use was associated with a dose dependent risk of infection. 

Research published in PNAS has shown that long after active Lyme infection in the joint, a peptidoglycan (PG) of the the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi can be found in the joints of those with late-stage Lyme disease.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients taking tofacitinib (Xeljanz) plus methotrexate who achieved low disease activity (LDA) may be able to withdraw from the latter agent without significant worsening of disease activity, a researcher reported at EULAR 2019 in Madrid.

Saturday June 15th was the last half-day at EULAR 2019 but was highlighted by the “late-breaking” (LB) presentations that were presented from the podium and by poster.

Below are the top “LB” presentations from EULAR this year:

A better understanding of rheumatic immune-related adverse event phenotypes beyond inflammatory arthritis has been furthered by work from three abstracts presented at EULAR 2019 in Madrid.

Power Doppler signal on baseline ultrasound exam may well help stratify anti-CCP positive patients with musculoskeletal symptoms but no clinical synovitis, according to data from the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine presented at EULAR 2019.

Dr. Jack Cush reports from Madrid on several novel presentations from EULAR 2019.

1. Genovese Vagal nerve stimulator in RA

It was a full and lively 2nd day in Madrid with sessions dedicated to Lupus, RA, Sjogren’s, imaging, rare diseases, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Here are a few of the highlights from day 2 EULAR in Madrid 

Here are a few of the highlights from day 1 EULAR in Madrid. 

Many of the great presentations from EULAR 2019 feature industry sponsored clinical trials.  Often these become the pivotal studies for regulatory approval and the annual congresses are their first look.