The Infectious Diseases Society of America has recently updated its recommendations with regards to the treatment of severely ill, hospitalized COVID-19 infected patients and also about the appropriate use of anti-IL-6, JAKs and colchicine.

A UK study suggests the equivalent outcomes when patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with connective tissue disease (CTD) are treated with either intravenous rituximab (RTX) or cyclophosphamide (CTX), but with fewer adverse events with RTX. 

There is a large, unmet need in treating Sjögren’s syndrome, yet a new randomized clinical trial has shown that low-dose interleukin 2 (LD-IL-2) was effective effective and well tolerated in patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS), with evidence of restored immune balance.

Deucravacitinib, an oral, selective TYK2 inhibitor, has demonstrated efficacy in a phase II trial active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

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). 

The updated 2022 EULAR recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were initially presented by Dr. Josef Smolen at EULAR 2022, and are now in press delineating the most recent developments and perspectives in RA treatment.

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic musculoskeletal disease which can be managed with both pharmacological and non-pharmacological options. The joint ASAS-EULAR recommendations for axSpA were first developed in 2006, and last updated in 2016.

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

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from this past week on RheumNow.com.  New regulatory decisions about JAK inhibitors and why do women with rheumatic diseases have unfair outcomes?

Treat-to-target management of SLE has been shown to protect against organ damage and to improve quality of life. Now a prospective study shows that T2T with a goal of lupus low disease activity state and remission has been shown to improve mortality risk.

The CDC has updated its Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain and includes recommendations for managing acute (duration of <1 month), subacute (duration of 1–3 months), and chronic (duration of >3 months) pain.

Remission often invites consideration of drug withdrawal in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA's) safety committee (PRAC) has issued a recommendation that the use of oral JAK inhibitors (tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib and filgotinib) be limited to certain at-risk patients unless no other suitable treatment alternatives are available.

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. 

Today, Cardinal Health released its third edition of Rheumatology Insights, a research report based on surveys with more than 100 rheumatologists nationwide that focuses on key trends

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.

Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) and EULAR have published their 2022 update and recommendations for the management of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

On Friday October 21st the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq) for the treatment of active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis in patients with objective signs of inflammation who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor blocker therapy.

Pregnancy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is fraught with problems of adverse pregnancy outcomes, more pregnancy loss and birth defects. Now a study of SLE pregnancies exposed to belimumab (BEL) shows and expected rate of pregnancy loss but a variable rate of birth defects.