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

EULAR 2021 opened with a grand debate to answer this essential question:  should clinicians treat to remission or to Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS)?  

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.

Despite being relatively common and frequently severe, RA-ILD has been a neglected area of research and indeed of clinical management in RA. In recent years we finally seem to have started making some progress in this area and this momentum has continued with a several interesting abstracts at EULAR 2021. Here are four selected for review.

RheumNow faculty reporters scoured the Posters and Presentations from virtual EULAR 2021.  Several of these are novel enough to be worthy of your consideration.  Below is the list of the six most often retweeted abstracts from Day 1.

An analysis of SLE samples from SLE 1760 patients with active disease from RCTs illustrated several known and some new targets for SLE treatment (POS0351).

Combination disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy may not be only for rheumatoid arthritis; combining disease modifying agents may be the path to better renal response. 

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) consists of a wide range of dermatologic manifestations seen in people with or without systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). CLE can be categorised into LE-specific lesions, i.e. acute CLE (ACLE), subacute CLE (SCLE) and chronic CLE (CCLE), and nonspecific LE skin lesions (e.g. vasculitis).

Patients with Sjogren’s syndrome are nearly 19 times more likely to develop lymphoma, so identifying factors that impact this risk development is a major goal in caring for this disorder. Many risk factors are established such as low C4, palpable purpura, parotid gland enlargement, and monoclonal gammopathy.

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.

In RA, the two most common peaks of incidence are thirties and fifties; however a significant percentage of patients above the age of 70 present with active RA -of early or later onset- and require adapted treatment.

Check out this compilation of our EULAR 2021 Day 2 broadcasts below. You can also follow the EULAR 2021 RheumNow podcasts on iTunes and Soundcloud.com Listen by Clicking below: 1. EULAR2021 - Day2a 2. EULAR2021 - Day2b