Dr. Jack Cush reviews and highlights his favorite abstracts and presentations from last week's virtual EULAR 2021 meeting.

Given its multiple domains, there remains much discussion over the best disease activity scoring method in PsA. The proverbial "holy grail" would be a measure that is quick, intuitive, domain comprehensive and validated.

Here are a few notable presentations from this past Friday, Day 3 of the EULAR 2021 virtual meeting.

Dr. Philip Mease et al presented results of a phase II trial (OP0227) at EULAR 2021 that shows the efficacy and safety of an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TYKi), deucravacitinib, for treatment of active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

It seems like every conference we are presented with data on the newest biologic for treatment of psoriatic arthritis, but the question is, do we need it? Oral presentation (6937) discussed that issue and addressed our need for a more personalized approach to the treatment of PsA. 

The question as to how autoimmune rheumatic disease patients fare with the COVID vaccine is one being asked in rheumatologists’ offices everywhere this year, and at the EULAR 2021 Virtual Congress, data presented from Israel, one of the first countries to vaccinate on a broad scale, has provided much-needed reassuring answers.