An economic evaluation of 25 099 rheumatoid arthritis patients found that treatment with biosimilar disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were cost-effective compared with the conventional DMARD, leflunomide.

In patients with clinically stable systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis, the withdrawal of mycophenolate mofetil was not significantly inferior to mycophenolate maintenance, but MMF withdrawal had numerically more reactivations, while MMF maintenance had more infections.

EULAR has updated its treatment recommendations from the prior 2019 guidelines, since there have been several newly developed agents. The updated guidance includes 7 overarching principles and 11 recommendations regarding treatment strategy and pharmacological therapies.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a suppurative inflammatory skin disorder that is considered to be autoinflammatory by many. HS includes a specturm of disorders, linked by suppurative (or psoriatic) skin disease and potentially genetics. These HS-related disorders may include pyoderma gangrenosum, acne and suppurative hidradenitis, Pyogenic Arthritis, Pyoderma gangrenosum and Acne, pyogenic arthritis, PG, acne and suppurative hidradenitis, and Synovitis, Acne, Pustulosis, Hyperostosis and Osteitis, amongst others.

Medscape has published an informative review of leflunomide, drawn from Dr. Eric Ruderman’s recent lecture on the subject at the February RWCS meeting in Maui. Here are some highpoints from this Medscape article and lecture.

An ultrasound study suggests that enthesitis is associated with both synovitis and tenosynovitis in patients with Psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

EULAR has published the 2023 updated recommendations for the optimal non-pharmacological management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Drs. Caroline Siegel and Lisa Sammaritano (from HSS in NYC) have published an impressive overview of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in JAMA. This timely, well-written review covers the many complexities of this multi-organ disorder that affects nearly 3.4 million people worldwide.

Sjögren disease (SD) is the most common of all autoimmune disease, yet little is know of its etiology and there are insufficient interventions for those affected with mucosal or systemic manifestations. The British Society of Rheumatology has updated its 2017 guidelines, with wider evidence and recommendations for the management of children and adolescents with SD. This article reviews the data and recommendations stemming from 19 questions on SD care.

The New England Journal of Medicine has published a review of systemic amyloidosis. 

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and regulatory announcements from the past week on RheumNow.com.

A study from the University of British Columbia has evaluated the trajectories of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) use in patients with incident RA and SLE between1997 and 2021, and identified factors associated with high adherence. 

This meta-analysis of psoriasis treatments shows that biologic therapies may be less effective in certain psoriasis (PSO) patients, particularly those who are older, smokers, with higher BMI an prior exposure to biologics.

A randomised controlled trial of adults with recurrent low back pain (LBP) has shown that a program of progressive walking and education intervention significantly reduced low back pain recurrence.

A multicenter cohort study of systemic lupus erythematosus patients with type 2 diabetes has shown the use of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors associated with a significantly reduced risk of lupus nephritis, dialysis, kidney transplant, heart failure, and all-cause mortality compared with no SGLT2i use.

Drs. Artie Kavanaugh and Jack Cush discuss highlights from the EULAR 2024 meeting in Vienna

Childhood lupus (cSLE) is a rare multisystem disorder with significant associated morbidity, but evidence-based guidelines are sparse, and as such management is often based on clinical expertise.

The final day of EULAR 2024 was rich in posters, Late-breaking oral presentations and EULAR updates and recommendations.  Below is a synopsis of the half-day's action.

A clinical trial in early axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) demonstrated sustained inactive disease status in over 60% of patients.