Dr. Jack Cush reviews this week's highlights from RheumNow.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the first week of 2017 on RheumNow.com.

Happy New Year!

Disease Activity Pre-pregnancy During Pregnancy Post-pregnancy
Mild 10 6 4
Moderate 2 6 8
Severe 2 2 2

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from this week on RheumNow.com

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights and reports from this week on RheumNow.com, including drug-induced cutaneous lupus, pediatric lupus being worse, new gout drug SEL-12, Gut microbiome and IgA plasmablasts, and the weakly-received new ACP guidelines on gout.

Most women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have no or little disease activity during pregnancy, but experience greater disease activity or overt flares during the first year postpartum, a Norwegian study has found.

The Washington Post recently interviewed Dr. Eliza Chakavarty of the OMRF about the evolution in attitudes and outcomes of lupus women who wish to get pregnant.

A Lancet meta-analysis has reviewed the preventative effects of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) on placenta-mediated pregnancy complications include pre-eclampsia, late pregnancy loss, placental abruption, and birth of a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) neonate.

Dr. Cush reviews the RheumNow.com highlights in rheumatology for the week ending 19 August 2016.

The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) has published comprehensive recommendations on reproductive health and family planning for women with systemic lupus erythematosus and/or antiphospholipid syndrome – conditions that largely affect women of childbearing age.

Pregnancy complications of anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS) have included recurrent abortions, spontaneous fetal loss, preeclampsia, and premature birth. The etiopathogenesis of these events has been presumed to be placental thrombosis or infarction.

The PROMISSE (Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) study has revealed several important lessons in lupus care.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the news and social media in the past week on RheumNow.com

Tocilizumab is currently listed as a Category "C" pregnancy risk based on limited pre-clinical (animal) data that was negative.

Sjogren's syndrome is a highly prevalent disorder, affecting women ten times more frequently than men.  Although the typical onset follows menopause, a minority of women may develop primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) during child-bearing years.

In April and May 2016, RheumNow sent 82 tweets regarding news, research and teaching points that strongly impacted the rheumatology community and resulted in a reach of 203,500 impressions, with 136 mentions, and over 6378 visits to RheumNow.com. Here are the top tweets from April and May.

This is a reposting of an earlier report on RheumNow that includes additional commentary from Dr. Sunada Kane, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic who specializes in both inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and pregnancy. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in the last year (January 2015 to February 2016), they have identified and confirmed 116 cases of the Zika virus among US residents, with nearly all having traveled to endemic regions.

Arkema and colleagues assessed maternal and fetal outcomes in patients with SLE, pre-clinical (prior to onset) SLE and prevalent maternal SLE during pregnancy compared with the general population.