Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow and discusses a case of refractory juvenile dermatomyositis with calcinosis.

Pregnancy often occurs in women with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), and a recent cohort study suggests outcomes are generally better than what had been reported in the literature. Data was collected from axSpA patients from 4 registries who were pregnant. This included a total of 332 pregnancies from 304 axSpA women (mean age 31 years; disease duration 5 years).  Recorded outcomes included:

Global age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) for 1000000 was for 0.13 for AS, 0.04 for PsA, 0.86 for CD and 0.76 for UC. Using mortality data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), researchers showed that over time, while there has been no change in age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) for patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), ASMR were decreased for IBD patients (Crohn's disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC]).

We've got a lot to discuss this week: psoriasis; fatigue; sleep; sural nerve biopsies; uveitis and SpA; diet and RA; tofacitinib and the ORAL surveillance study; what not to take with mycophenolate - and more. In what order should these items be discussed? This week the run down is based on popularity, measured by rheumatologist engagements on the website and social media.

Patient-reported fatigue is high in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and often goes under-recognized by physicians. Fatigue importantly impacts physical functioning, work productivity, and health related quality of life (HRQoL).