A study of men with gout from the US Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) shows that excess mortality in gout could be attributed to comorbidities.

ACR Open Rheumatology reports that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients have a higher risk of postoperative major adverse cardiac events (MACE) that can be identified by common cardiac risk measures.

Rheumatoid arthritis associated bronchiectasis (RA-BR) is uncommon, and is unrelated to interstitial lung disease (ILD), but like ILD, can substantially impact RA outcomes.

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

The ACR journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology, has publish a listing of top articles in 2021 as measured by Altmetric, an online service that tracks what gets "clicked" and discussed.  Interestingly, this includes 4 guidelines and 5 COVID-related papers.

Drs. Jack Cush and Artie Kavanaugh review the highlights of the RWCS (Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium) from Maui.

The European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) has developed recommendations for cardiovascular risk (CVR) management in rheumatic disease patients based on literature review and expert consensus.

Interesting reports this week about dementia, who gets hand OA and a great list of women Heroes and Pillars of Rheumatology. Tune in as Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from this past week in RheumNow.com.

A Task Force from the ACR has provided an updated (version 3) guidance for the diagnosis and management of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a COVID related condition characterized by fever, inflammation, and multiorgan dysfunction.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com.  He discusses the GI side effects of IL-17 inhibitors, downstream revenues from rheumatology care and dietary prevention of gout. 

In an editorial in the current edition of the NEJM, Dr. Jasvinder Singh comments on the Oral Surveillance trial (Ytterberg et al.), a 4-year randomized, open-label, noninferiority, postauthorization, safety end-point trial, in high risk active rheumatoid arthritis patients over age 50 years.

Our top 10 list of advances, game-changers, worries and those better medical practices that evolved during 2021.

The current edition of the MMWR from the CDC shows that among those vaccinated against COVID-19, there is a low risk of severe outcomes (hospitalization and death); the highest risk is seen in those with multiple comorbidities.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is new and serious complication of COVID-19 that preferentially affects adolescents. A review of proposed management guidelines is compiled in this report, suggesting a unified approach to therapeutic management of MIS-C.

It's great to be a rheumatologist, but boy, it's getting harder and harder. You have to be a jack of all trades. You have to be good at cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, vaccination, inflammatory bowel disease - it just never ends. This and more, as Dr. Cush summarizes more than a dozen journal articles, news reports and questions + cases.

Safety comparisons of JAKi (tofacitinib) vs. TNFi from Oral Surveillance showed that, in patients with active RA on MTX and aged >50 years with one or more CV risk factors, that there was numerically more MACE events, malignancies, and VTE especially in higher dose.