AS/Spondyloarthritis

With their publication in June 2022 (1), the 3rd iteration of the Group for Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) Treatment recommendations for Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) may have set a record or sorts.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews recent news, regulatory and guideline updates from the past week on RheumNow.com.  Studies on methotrexate use, COVID vaccination, Supplements and vitamins, and arthrocentesis despite anticoagulation are discussed.

Pooled data from two large ixekizumab (IXE) trials show that male patients had greater clinical responses than did female patients with psoriatic arthritis are largely unexplored. Reasons for this differential treatment responses to an interleukin-17A inhibitor (IXE) between male and female patients is unexplained.

A cohort study of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients evaluated immunogenicity of COVID vaccination with and without holding methotrexate (MTX) for and 2-weeks and showed better immunogenicity, but more RA flares with the second MTX withdrawal. 

Dr. Jack Cush does a 2-week review of RheumNow Tweets on news and journal citations worth noting, along with some opinions on Telehealth, manpower, monkeypox and the price of drugs. Although Rheumatology currently ranks 2nd or 3rd in specialty use of telemedicine - the vast majority of rheums have given up on telehealth (<15%) https://t.co/iDNesBkOnN

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. 

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…

Differences across genders in many aspects related to rheumatic diseases diagnosis, phenotyping, trajectories definition and prediction of response to treatment have been overlooked. Two abstracts have shed light on relevant gender-based differences in AxSpA assessment or treatment.

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

One area of continued interest for many rheumatologists is the field of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis. Furthermore, the question of the utility of JAK inhibitors for the treatment of axial spondyloarthritis has been on the rise.