All News
Best of 2019 - Biologic Safety Guidelines from the British Society for Rheumatology
In the United Kingdom, NICE has looked to the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) to develop evidence based guidance on the safe use of biologic DMARDs in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
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Best of 2019 - 2019 EULAR Guidelines on Antiphospholipid Syndrome Management
A EULAR task force has reviewed the medical literature and developed evidence-based recommendations for the management of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) in adults. They note that a high-risk antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) profile is associated with greater risk for thrombotic and obstetric APS.
Read ArticleRheumNow Podcast – Merry Lupus XMAS (12.20.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com, just in time for Christmas!
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CRP in SSc: Identifying a Severe Phenotype
Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) who have persistent inflammation -- characterized by consistently elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) -- have more severe disease and worse outcomes, a retrospective study confirmed.
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ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria for IgG4 Related Disease
IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a relatively new disorder since 2003, and may present as a diagnostic challenge as it can cause fibroinflammatory pathology in nearly any organ.
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Biologic Safety Guidelines from the British Society for Rheumatology
In the United Kingdom, NICE has looked to the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) to develop evidence based guidance on the safe use of biologic DMARDs in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
Read Article
RheumNow Podcast – Better Ways to Treat Gout (11.8.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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RheumNow Podcast – Ghastly, Ghoulish News (10.31.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews recent journal articles and info bits from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Patients Prefer Nurse Led Care for their Gout
Despite the well known, well publicized treat-to-target (T2T) goal of a serum uric acid (SUA) level 6 mg/dl, this goal is seldom achieved ( 40%) in clinical practice and patient adherence has been unacceptably low. A recent study shows that nurse-led care led to better outcomes in gout including patient acceptability, long-term adherence, and less flares.
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RheumNow Podcast – Fight or Switching (DMARDs) (10.18.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Warfarin Superior to Xarelto in Antiphospholipid Syndrome
A 3 year, multicenter, European, study shows that rivaroxaban was inferior to warfarin in preventing thrombosis in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) according to the Annals of Internal Medicine. Thus despite the inconvenience of warfarin, it remains the best option for patients with APS.
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Serum Interferon Predicts Lupus Flares
Elevated serum levels of interferon-α among patients whose systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was in remission helped predict future disease flares, European researchers found.
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RheumNow Podcast – Women Take Over Rheumatology (10.4.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the News and Journal Reports from this week on RheumNow.com.
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RheumNow Podcast – Cancer Risk in Systemic Sclerosis (9.27.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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RheumNow Podcast – The End of Arthritis (9.13.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Modifiable Risk Factors for Hyperuricemia
Choi and colleagues have shown that four modifiable risk factors (BMI, the DASH diet, alcohol use, and diuretic use) could individually account for a notable proportion of observed hyperuricemia.
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Autoantibodies Don't Disappear With Remission in RA
Immunologic remission in rheumatoid arthritis, defined as the disappearance of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies and rheumatoid factor, was seen infrequently among patients achieving sustained clinical remission and did not correlate with the disappearance of symptoms, a long-term Dutch study found.
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Updated CDC Recommendation for Serologic Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
Serologic testing is the principal means of laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease. Current recommendations include using a sensitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) or immunofluorescence assay, followed by a western immunoblot assay for specimens yielding positive or equivocal results.
On July 29, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration cleared several Lyme disease serologic assays with new indications for use, allowing for an EIA rather than western immunoblot assay as the second test in a Lyme disease testing algorithm. Thus, serologic assays that utilize a second EIA in place of western immunoblot assay are acceptable alternatives for the serologic diagnosis of Lyme disease.
Periodontal Disease and P. gingivalis Increased in CCP+ Pre-Clinical RA
A cross-sectional study 48 CCP–positive "at risk" individuals (without arthritis) were shown to have an increased prevalence of periodontitis and P gingivalis when compared to 26 early RA (ERA) and 32 controls.
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RheumNow Podcast – More Than a Spot of Tea (8.2.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the journal articles and news reports from the past week on RheumNow.com:
MMP-7 and Myositis-ILD; Post-surgical gout attacks; CV events and testosterone; and a Boxed warning for tofacitinib.
