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Tocilizumab May Benefit COVID-19 Pneumonia
A retrospective, observational study published in Lancet Rheumatology has shown that tocilizumab (TCZ) may reduce the risk of death or the need for mechanical ventilation in severe COVID-19 pneumonia. This observational study included adults, with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, who were hospitalized between Feb 21 and March 24, 2020. All were on the standard of care (ie, supplemental oxygen, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, antiretrovirals, and low molecular weight heparin), and a non-randomly selected subset of patients also received TCZ.
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RheumNow Podcast – Lupus Mortality Declines, But… (6.26.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Protective Benefit of Colchicine in COVID-19 Infection
Colchicine has been advocated as a potential anti-inflammatory intervention in patients with the coronavirus 2 infection and clinical trials have been developed to assess its effect in early COVID-2 infection. JAMA has published a randomized clinical trial showing that low dose colchicine had less clinical deterioration without significant changes in biomarkers, such as high-sensitivity cardiac troponin and C-reactive protein.
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Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
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TNFi Cycling vs. Swapping Biologics in Rheumatoid Arthritis
For years, rheumatologists would rather fight to stay on a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) than switch to a non-TNFi biologic when rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy fails.
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Adverse Events With Rheum Biologics Rise With Age
Among patients with rheumatic diseases, age and female sex were important factors associated with the development of a first adverse event after initiating biologic treatment, Spanish researchers reported.
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Upside Down with Tocilizumab in COVID-19
Several recent reports offer conflicting views on the potential benefits and adverse outcomes of IL-6 inhibition with tocilizumab (TCZ) therapy in patients with severe COVID-19 infection.
An Italian study grabbed the headlines yesterday with a press release stating TCZ did not improve respiratory symptoms, ICU admissions or mortality rates when given to 126 COVID patients with early disease. The study, supported by the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa), stopped enrollment (about 1/3 of projections) after an interim analysis found insufficient evidence that TCZ would be effective. This report has not been published or undergone critical review.
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Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
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Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RheumNow Podcast – Enough Already with Weaning (6.19.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Virtual EULAR 2020 Round Up
In this week's podcast, Drs. Artie Kavanaugh and Jack Cush present highlights from the virtual EULAR2020 meeting held June 3-6, 2020. Featured reports include the SELECT-CHOICE study, the EXCEED trial, Avacopan in AAV, BeST mortality outcomes, BLISS-LN study, biosimilars and tofa in systemic sclerosis.
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Day 4 - Top 3 from EULAR 2020
These were my top abstracts from Thursday, 4th of June at EULAR 2020:
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