High Drug Switching and Low Persistence in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Mease and colleagues have catalogued the current practices assessed in the CORRONA registry, noting that increased DMARD switching and decreased time on a given therapy by US physicians.

RheumNow Podcast – High Science and Future Treatments (9.10.2021)

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This week: high science that affect future treatments; breakthrough infections in our patients, and what's up with that; and soon your radiologist is going to be replaced by AI. This and more in our review of the news and journal articles from the past week.

Lymphoma in RA: Disease Activity Matters

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Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the strongest risk factors for the development of lymphoma were disease activity and severity, French researchers found.

In a multivariate analysis, having a high Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) at baseline conferred twice the risk for lymphoma, with an odds ratio of 2.09 (95% CI 1.41-3.38), according to Gaetane Nocturne, MD, of Hôpital Bicêtre in Ile-de-France, and colleagues.

COVID Breakthrough Infections in Rheumatic Patients

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Analysis of records from the Mass General Brigham healthcare system in the Boston area, shows that breakthrough infections (after receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccines) in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) are not uncommon, and may be severe or fatal.

ICYMI: The Greatest Rheumatologist - Part II

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Wow! I hope you read part I of yesterday's “Greatest Rheumatologist” article.  So many big names and yet, other names and stories that were equally inspirational.

If you read the comments of the part I article you can clearly see several themes emerge.

ICYMI: The Greatest Rheumatologist - Part I

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Who is the greatest rheumatologist? What makes for a great rheum? Is it clinical acumen, scientific achievement, educational prowess or years of unrivaled service or mentoring? Rheumatologists are quite opinionated on this subject and very nostalgic about their mentors and leaders. When I’ve posed this question in small groups, it’s plain to see how moved they become when discussing mentors or peers who influenced them. Thus, I posed this question to many of our leaders and mentors: who do you think of as the greatest rheumatologist?

RheumNow Podcast – JAK Inhibitor Warnings from the FDA

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FDA JAK inhibitor warnings and what it means (also: what do you think?); other news released this week; and, two questions submitted from listeners. Dr. Cush discusses this and more in this week's podcast.

Not All Immunosuppression Alters Vaccine Immunogenicity

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Chronic inflammatory disease (CID) patients are urged to receive the COVID-19 vaccines; but when a cohort of CID patients treated with immunosuppressive medications were given an mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, only those treated with glucocorticoids and B cell depleting therapies (B

Expert Panel: Initial Views on FDA Warnings for JAK Inhibitors

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Dr. Jack Cush is joined by Drs. Roy Fleischmann (Dallas), Allan Gibofsky (NYC), and Artie Kavanaugh (San Diego) to discuss the 9/2/21 FDA Drug Safety Communication regarding the cardiovascular and cancer risks arising from the Pfizer 1133 (ORAL Surveillance) tofacitinib study, but also applied to baricitinib and upadacitinib.

TNF Inhibitor Induced IgA Vasculitis in IBD

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A new descriptive series shows an uncommon association between IgA vasculitis (IgAV) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), with most cases interestingly arising after  or during anti-TNF-α therapy.

Predictors of Inflammatory Arthritis

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Data from 4 parallel case-control studies within The Health Improvement Network looked at risk factors for developing psoriatic arthritis (PsA), psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) showed both shared and differentiating risk factors, but statin use was protective in all 4 conditions.

Drug Choices After First TNF Inhibitor in RA

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TNFi are frequently used first line in RA patients; and a new analysis shows that repeat use of TNFi dominates over the use of non-TNFi biologics when the initial TNFi therapy has failed. This retrospective analysis of commercial insurance records analyzed the patterns of drug use in adult RA patients who switched to their second biologic or targeted disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.

RheumNow Podcast – COVID Marching Amidst the Madness (8.27.2021)

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We have a lot of news, information and approvals to review and discuss, though I need to begin with what's weighing heavily on my mind. After, we'll dive into what we learned this week.

Mediterranean Diet Benefits Spondyloarthritis

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Can an antiinflammatory diet impact axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA)? A 6-month dietary intervention shows that adherence to a Mediterranean diet lowers disease activity in axSpA; but dietary adherence is often incomplete.