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Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A prospective study of the BioSTAR registry estimates the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to be 4.6%.
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Methotrexate Nodulosis (1.19.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com. How good (or not) are rheumatologists and what to do about MTX nodulosis?
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Rituximab Efficacy in MAINRITSAN Long-Term Studies
The original randomized controlled, prospective MAINRITSAN study of 115 patients (87 with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, 23 with microscopic polyangiitis, and 5 with renal-limited ANCA-associated vasculitis [AAV]) demonstrated superiority of rituximab (RTX) over azathioprine (AZA) for maintenance of remission at 22 months in ANCA-associated vasculitis patients after CYC remission induction.
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Increased CV Comorbidity in Dermatomyositis
A cohort study suggest that patients with dermatomyositis (DM) are at an increased risk for multiple comorbidities, including chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease,
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2023 Rheumatology Year in Review
Here is my top 10 list (in no particular order) of 2023 advances, game-changers, and developments that changed, or will soon change, rheumatologic practices.
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Best of 2023: Treatment and Management of Neuropsychiatric Lupus
At the 2023 ACR State of the Art conference in Orlando, Florida, Dr. Michelle Petri reviewed the treatment and management of neuropsychiatric lupus. Dr. Petri, a lupus expert from Johns Hopkins Rheumatology, reviewed the latest clinical and animal model studies that offer hope in treatment and gave wide-ranging pearls on a variety of issues that can be faced in this disorder.
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StillsNow Podcast December 2023 - ACR23 Highlights
Dr. Jack Cush reviews selected AOSD & systemic JIA abstracts from the ACR 2023 Annual meeting held in San Diego, November 12th thru 16th.
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Best of 2023: EULAR/ACR Guidance on Haemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis/Macrophage Activation Syndrome
A EULAR/American College of Rheumatology task force has established evidence based, up-to-date guidance and expert opinion on the evaluation, management and monitoring of patients with Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), with the primary intent to halt disease progression and prevent life-threatening complications from HLH/MAS.
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Best of 2023: Colchicine or Prednisone in CPPD?
The COLCHICORT trial in patients with acute calcium pyrophosphate crystal arthritis (CPPD) demonstrated equivalent efficacy for both colchicine and prednisone, yet different safety signals were seen.
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Best of 2023: 2022 EULAR Recommendations for ANCA-associated Vasculitis
EULAR has published the 2022 update on recommendations for the management of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). AAV recommendations were last published in 2016, and since, research and clinical trials have advanced our understanding of AAV. A EULAR task force of 20 experts from 16 countries, reviewed the literature and developed four overarching principles and 17 recommendations.
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ICYMI: ACR Plenaries: Changing the Practice of Rheumatology
Over the years of navigating the annual meeting, I found the sessions with the most impact to my practice were the Plenary Sessions. During these sessions, the latest research is presented, new ideas are floated, and old myths debunked. Here are the top ACR2023 Plenary abstracts I found impactful for my practice.
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ICYMI: Glucocorticoids-free zone in SLE?
For over 70 years, glucocorticoids, (GC) have been a part of standard therapy in SLE. They are classically used to not only induce remission or treat an acute flare, but also as maintenance therapy. They are a valuable 'friend' if used wisely, and can become a 'foe' if used excessively.
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When should we be starting therapy in GCA and PMR?
The problem with having therapies that work is that you then have to figure out what to do with them. You cannot hide behind a shrug of the shoulders, or the ambiguity of therapeutic inadequacy. The question that follows the presence of a therapy is the question as to how to best use it.
GCA and PMR are at the stage in the growth of their therapeutic development where this problem is moving to the front of mind, and it made for a fitting topic in the ACR Great Debate. Drs. Rob Spiera and Phil Seo - two luminaries in the vasculitis and PMR worlds - were pitted head to head to discuss.
Reconsidering Steroids
There is not a single one of us in rheumatology who hasn’t prescribed steroids, but we really need to reconsider how much and how often we use them.
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IgG4 disease- the WInS withdrawal study results
IgG4-related disease describes a group of fibroinflammatory diseases whose features may include autoimmune pancreatitis, swelling of or within an organ system, salivary gland disease, swollen lymph nodes, skin manifestations, and symptoms consistent with allergies or asthma. While remission induction treatment with glucocorticoids has proven effective, the high relapse tendency is an ongoing challenge for clinicians.
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