All News
EULAR Points on Managing Difficult Rheumatoid Arthritis
A EULAR task force has promulgated several points to consider in managing difficult-to-treat RA. These "points" are unique in directing the rheumatologist's attention to the potential for misdiagnosis and the impact of comorbid conditions on what is perceived as poorly controlled RA.
Read Article
Links:
Biologics Reduce Surgical Needs in RA
In Canada, biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) were introduced after 2001, and since that time there have been significant reductions in hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not in patients with osteoarthritis (OA).
Read Article
RheumNow Podcast – Saphnelo (Anifrolumab) Approved for Lupus (8.6.2021)
It was a banner week at the FDA; a new drug approval you should know about; a lot of information about pregnancy and safety; and an interesting case plus a question from one of our readers submitted via Back Talk. This and more in this week's podcast. Let's dive in.
Read Article
Rheumatoid Arthritis Offspring Show Normal School Performance
A prospective, longitudinal study of the cognitive development of children born to mothers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) demonstrates normal development as measured by comparative school test scores.
Read Article
Shingles Risk with JAK Inhibitors and Other Biologics
Registry data suggests an increased risk of herpes zoster (HZ, shingles) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients taking JAK inhibitors (JAKi) but also with other biologic DMARDs, compared to csDMARDs.
Read Article
No Cancer Risk with TNF Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis
The ARTIS Study Group has published their analysis of (non-skin) cancer risk in rheumatoid arthritis, claiming the overall safety of biologic DMARDs and targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs).
Read Article
Cardiovascular Prevention Lacking in Rheumatoid Arthritis
An increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in rheumatoid arthritis is well known and feared but an RA cohort study suggests that preventive medication use in RA patients lags behind that seen in diabetes mellitus (DM).
Read Article
DMARD Effects on COVID-19 Outcomes
Sparks and colleagues have published data from the Global Rheumatology Alliance noting that among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients afflicted with COVID-19 infection, there was little influence of their baseline biologic or targeted synthetic (b/ts) disease-modifying antirheumatic drug
Read Article
Tofacitinib Efficacy in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Deodhar and colleagues have published the results of a study showing that in adult patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS), oral tofacitinib was effective (versus placebo) and is safe.
Read Article
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Links:
ICYMI: RheumNow Podcast – Tofacitinib Safety Concerns
Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
ICYMI: 2020 Rheumatology Year in Review
2020 was historic, memorable and game-changing. Under the cloud of COVID-19, there were many significant and memorable advances and setbacks for the rheumatology world. In our accounting of most read articles for 2020, (not surprisingly) 17/20 were COVID-related.
Read Article
ICYMI: Psoriatic Disease Management - RNL 2021 Highlights
This year’s coverage of psoriatic arthritis was once again, both exciting and informative. Topics included an overview of the latest therapeutic options, an excellent discussion on psoriasis specifically, and the epidemiology of psoriatic arthritis.
Read Article
ICYMI: Cardiac and Cancer Signals Tofacitinib Safety Alert from FDA
The FDA has notified healthcare professionals of a safety alert concerning tofacitinib (Xeljanz), noting that preliminary results from a long-term safety clinical trial show an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer with tofacitinib (compared to adalimumab) when given to at-risk rheumatoid arthritis patients. These findings are in addition to the thrombotic risks (added to the label), potential risks including blood clots in the lungs and death.
Read Article
ICYMI: JAK Inhibitor Misses Endpoint in Safety Study. Now What?
Pfizer announced results Wednesday from its FDA-mandated postmarketing safety study of tofacitinib (Xeljanz), and they don't bode well for the drug and possibly others in its class.
Read Article
Links:
ACR Stands Against Insurer Mandated Infusion Locations
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released an updated position statement on patient safety and site of service for biologics outlining several reasons why the ACR strongly believes infusions should be administered in a monitored health care setting with onsite supervision by a provid
Read Article