Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal and regulatory reports from this past week on RheumNow.com.  B cell drugs in SLE and ITP, biomarkers in GCA & PSS and great videos by APPs.

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

A review of patient data from the International AutoInflammatory Disease Alliance (AIDA) Network registry identifying those with mucocutaneous Behçet’s disease (BD) may progres to major organ involvement (MOI)m especially at later stages.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of adult vasculitis in the United States and can be subdivided into those with cranial only symptoms, those with large vessel vasculiti/PMR, and those with mixed features.

Drs. Jack Cush & Arthur Kavanaugh, two of rheumatology’s most trusted voices, provide a breakdown of the latest breakthroughs and hottest topics in rheumatology from the 2025 ACR Convergence meeting in Chicago.

They say the easiest bit about GCA, like PMR, is the first week after you start steroids. Those fond memories belie the challenge of ongoing treatment in GCA. In a steroid-only world, there is only misery. Steroid-sparing therapies have changed this completely.

For the last several years, conversations about JAK inhibitors have often started and ended with safety. The shadow cast by ORAL Surveillance has made clinicians more cautious and regulators more restrictive.

My favorite session at ACR Convergence is often the “Great Debate.” The debate this year also evaluated one of my favorite topics – ultrasound in giant cell arteritis (GCA). More specifically, it asked the question of whether biopsy or ultrasound should be the preferred modality for diagnosing GCA.