At the onset of the pandemic, data from the Global Rheumatology Alliance reported increased risk of poor severe COVID outcomes including deaths in patients who were treated with rituximab and baricitinib. With the vaccination program undertaken globally, has this risk been attenuated?

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.

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.

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. 

Impressive data on novel treatment for SLE were presented at the EULAR22 Congress. A disease that is difficult to study due to its pleomorphic presentation, unpredictable disease course, and high mortality rates, SLE is considered the dragon of all autoimmune diseases. Here are highlights of four exciting abstracts presented at the meeting with emerging therapeutics designed to slay the beast. 

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.

Topical treatments have so often been the low level “sure you can try this” option. However there are exciting data that these approaches may become part of our main armamentarium. 

Urate lowering therapy (ULT) is the backbone therapy for long-term gout treatment and maintenance, but real-world gout management is often imperfect and suboptimal. 

At EULAR 2022, I have been looking at topics and presentations in psoriatic arthritis (PsA).  Here are my top picks from this year's meeting.

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.

EULAR Congress 2022 highlighted several posters on pregnancy, an important subject as most rheumatic diseases afflicts women during their childbearing years. I wanted to share with you the ones that caught my eye because they can potentially impact medical practice.

Infiltrating macrophages expressing IL-6 and GM-CSF may drive the subacromial bursitis often seen in polymyalgia rheumatica, according to new research (abstract OP0015) presented on the first day of EULAR 2022 in Copenhagen.