Dr. Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow. This week on the podcast: hopeful guidelines for PMR; certainty about good & bad beverages in gout; mixed results in Sjogren's; non-lupus drugs saves lupus lives; and big hips sink ships in psoriatic arthritis.

Systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma, is one the most challenging rheumatic diseases to manage due to its heterogenous, multisystem manifestations and the limited treatment options for some of its progressive and debilitating complications. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is often utilized as an off-label therapy for refractory manifestations. However, evidence guiding usage in SSc remains limited. A recent systemic review and meta-analysis by Jozelio Freire de Carvalho and colleagues analyzed the available literature on this therapy.

An overview of calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease by Sara Tedeschi presents our evolving understanding of CPPD with advances affecting nomenclature, classification, imaging, genetics, long-term outcomes and potential future targeted therapies. This review builds on other important reports on CPPD.

The NEPTUNUS-1 and NEPTUNUS-2 trials have showed that monthly ianalumab is superior of placebo at improving Sjögren’s disease activity at week 48, even though there was no significant ESSDAI response or in the change in SSSD or ESSPRI symptom scores.

Toyoda and colleagues from the British Society for Rheumatology have published new PMR treatment guidelines to supercede the previously published 2009 BSR/BHPR PMR guidelines. These guidelines emphasize earlier specialist input, methotrexate as an option, and bone protection for all PMR patients who will require chronic glucocorticoids.