Anti-Rheumatic Rx

Clear differences were apparent among the three major types of targeted medications for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a large European registry study.

Insurance claims analysis has shown that the use of the (CDC recommended) recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) for prevention of herpes zoster was highly used in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and was safe, as higher rates of arthritis flares were not evident.

There are still questions surrounding COVID-19, and some common questions I receive from patients revolve around what to do with their current DMARDs or should they even start treatment during this pandemic. Two studies focused on this question. 

A retrospective cohort study has shown that outcomes in pregnant systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients has significantly improved in the last decade, but there still is a high risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO). A retrospective Danish SLE cohort was used to identify pregnancies in SLE patients from a single center between January 2010 and October 2020.

The American College of Rheumatology applauds the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to investigate the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which continue to increase PBM profit margins while placing the burden of skyrocketing drug costs on America’s most vulnerable patients, including those living with chronic and severe rheumatic diseases.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the top abstracts from EULAR 2022  As chosen by me with the  aid of the RheumNow EULAR faculty. “Top” is relative and subjective, but my criteria for inclusion are based on impact, water cooler talk potential, innovation and social media buzz.  Speaking of social media…

Rheumatologists have long hoped and wondered whether the right type of early intervention could prevent rheumatoid arthritis occurring in at-risk individuals. While it is often a point of substantive discussion at EULAR, this year’s meeting in Copenhagen provided further data on how therapy might useful before patients develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA), particularly for those at particularly high risk.

Despite updated gout management guidelines from European (EULAR) and British (BSR) societies, treatment of gout is suboptimal with regard to the use of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) and normalizing serum uric acid (< 6.0 mg/dl) levels.

An Annals of Internal Medicine review has shown that clinical trials and cohort studies of cannabinoids use for chronic pain may be associated with short-term improvements in chronic pain but come with an increased risk for dizziness and sedation. Studies of long-term outcomes and product formulation effects are lacking.

The British Society of Rheumatology has published their updated 2022 recommendations for the use of biologics and targeted synthetic treatments in patients with psoriatic arthritis. These guidelines follow initial treatment with a single conventional systemic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug, typically methotrexate typically. They noted that up to 50% of people with PsA require biologic or targeted synthetic (b/ts)DMARD therapy. 

Bags are packed, ready to go, but wait there’s more abstracts to show. The big news today were the “late breaking” abstracts. This is usually a favorite session of many as this is where the newest of study data often is showcased.  Here are my favorite late-breakers from Day 4.

This year at EULAR 2022, there were important and interesting topics in Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA). These are my picks of abstracts from the conference.

For autoimmune patients with a history of malignancy, the initiation of biologic or targeted synthetic disease modifying agents (bDMARD/tsDMARDs) may provoke concern. While data for biologic medications and malignancy risk has been largely reassuring, clinical trials have often excluded patients with history of cancer.

By now, those of us attending the meeting know how to find a free coffee or sprite, have found comfortable meeting nooks and know our way around! PAnd congrats to you virtual Rheums for mastering the multi-screen, multitask simultaneous consumption posters, tweets and oral abstract presentations.

A full day at EULAR with oral and poster presentations of abstracts in the morning and a plethora of scientific (review) sessions in the afternoon. The latter covering topics like sarcoidosis, Still’s disease, fibromyalgia, back pain, sarcopenia, APS, IgG4 and imaging in vasculitis.