Hydroxychloroquine remains the backbone of treatment for SLE, and the only drug clinically proven to decrease mortality. Optimization of usage is therefore critical in maximizing benefit and preventing harms. Hydroxychloroquine blood level testing is available in clinical practice and can help guide this management. 

It was great to be back at an ACR annual meeting, this one in Philadelphia - Philly was great. A walking town, rich in culture, history and good places to meet and mingle. 

I loved the city, but not the convention center (not easy to navigate). 

Early in medical training, we are taught diagnoses are made 90% of the time based only on the history and physical exam of the patient; laboratory tests play a minor role. When ordered, tests are used as evidence to support the diagnosis already made by the physician.

In abstract #0327 presented during the poster session on Saturday, Dr. Ai Li Yeo and colleagues investigated the usefulness of serial anti-dsDNA testing in predicting flares among SLE patients who have persistently positive anti-dsDNA titers. 

Today's plenary session features a novel proposal on how and which patients with Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathy (IIM) should be screened for cancer.  Abstract 0002 by Oldroyd et al, entitled "Cancer Screening Recommendations for Patients with Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathy" took on this thorny practice issue. 

As we approach ACR22, there are many things to be excited about, especially with the reintroduction of in-person attendance. My attention this year is in research being presented in these three areas: ankylosing spondylitis; lupus management and treatment; and, subclinical RA.

A EULAR Task force has developed recommendations for screening and prophylaxis of chronic and opportunistic infections in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD).

The number of new diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis fell by 20% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests.

Dr. Jack Cush discusses the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow. This week more lupus nephritis, more drug induced lupus and more lupus infections that may kill. 

EULAR and the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) has updated their guidance on axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) management.

Newly released guidance for defining remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is expected to increase the number of patients achieving it while maintaining its ability to predict good objective outcomes.