New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that allopurinol and febuxostat may effectively lower urate levels when used in a treat-to-target approach. Importantly, both urate-lowering therapies were very effective with 90% of patients reaching target urate levels. Additionally, both appeared safe, with no evidence of increased cardiovascular toxicity (Abstract #1900).
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Bad things happen when our patients go into the ICU and it's not always due to the disease. Good things happen when we rise from sitting. And guess what? Rheumatologists are setting cardiology straight about hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. This, and a special recognition of parent-child rheumatologists, along with the news and articles from this week on RheumNow.
RA patients have an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) related to disease activity and inflammation, yet a large real-world study of older RA patients shows methotrexate to be associated with a 2-fold increased VTE risk (compared to hydroxychloroquine).
The Journal of Rheumatology reports that current smoking significantly reduces the clinical efficacy of methotrexate (MTX)-based therapy, as studied in an early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohort.
Heart Failure in RA: Inflammation Matters
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had high levels of inflammation at baseline were at increased risk for later heart failure, a large cohort study found.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) imparts a significant disabilty and quality of life (QoL) limitations worsened by aging, but also by malnutrition.
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
A two-dimensional/Doppler echocardiography of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) detected premature, clinically quiescent diastolic function.
Smoking worsens adult-onset Still’s disease. 185 AOSD pts, found 45 smokers who had higher risk of pericarditis (36 vs 16%), pleuritis (33 vs 14%), abd pain (18% vs 6%), higher systemic score (6.4 vs 5.4 ), More MAS (29% vs 6%), lung disease (18% vs 13%) https://t.co/ZKKhw1EbnD
Catastrophic Still's dz occurs early; compares 20 AOSD w/ organ failure vs 40 AOSD without. CAT-AOSD had shorter Dz duration, earlier Rx need; risks: younger; splenomegaly, liver, cardiac,lung involvement; ferritin level, no arthralgia https://t.co/8WIMd0JxZr


