COVID-19

My favorite three presentations from day 4 (Tuesday) at ACR 2021 included the following.

Hitting the home stretch, day 3 presentations were big! Here are a few of my favorites: secukinumab efficacy in juvenile PsA; VEXAS - predicting poor outcomes; and the FDA Safety Update session.

The third day of ACR 2021 took a big leap in online content.  Here is a compilation (with links) of presentations were the “ACRBest” as seen by our RheumNow faculty. 

The RheumNow faculty reporters have been scouring and reporting on the best abstracts from the ACR. Here is a sampling of their choice abstract presentations reported during ACR 2020 Day 2 (#ACRbest).

The RheumNow faculty have been glued to their monitors all day, watching video, and running down abstract presentations to find the best – several of these stood out as #ACRBests. Here is a listing of “Best” they saw on Day 1.

The opening of ACR2 Convergence was a hit for all who signed up and viewed in. The day included the presidential address by outgoing president Dr. David Karp (UT Southwestern) and a keynote talk and interview with Dr. Seema Yasmin (Stanford). The Year in Review featured a clinical vs basic science Brigham and Women’s Hospital faceoff between its two faculty, Dr. Karen Costenbader and Dr. Michael Brenner.

Patients with rheumatic diseases – requiring lifelong immunosuppressants— are at high risk for respiratory and viral infections. Over the past decade, an armamentarium of biologic and targeted therapies has led to better control of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Whether these patients, especially those receiving newer biological and targeted therapies such as JAK inhibitors, are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19

CreakyJoints will present 11 posters and two oral presentations at ACR 2021. COVID-19 research revealed significantly high levels of anxiety, anger, depression, and social isolation, which were linked to medication interruptions and associated flares suggesting during the pandemic, patients often felt unsupported by all levels of the healthcare system. 

Post-pandemic structured surveys and interviews with rheumatology patients suggests they may prefer for face-to-face consultations, as telehealth visits run the risk of diagnostic inaccuracies and safety concerns. Researchers surveyed a total of 1,340 (UK) patients and 111 clinicians n = 111 and interviewed 31 patients and 29 clinicians between April and July 2021.

New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows immunocompromised patients using rituximab (a drug used to treat diseases like rheumatoid arthritis) were able to produce antibodies against COVID-19 (seroconvert) after receiving a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, even if there was no development of the antibody after the first two doses of the vaccine (