Physicians accepting payments from drug and device companies administered significantly more hyaluronic acid (HA) injections to Medicare beneficiaries for knee osteoarthritis, researchers found.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past 2 weeks on RheumNow.com.  This week reviews clinical associations with SS-A, a new biomarker for SSc-ILD and cancer screening for myositis patients.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a kidney disorder characterized by the buildup of immunoglobin A (IgA) in the glomeruli, which are bundles of capillaries that filter blood in the kidney. In advanced stages of the disease, the buildup of IgA in the glomeruli disrupts kidney functioning and, in approximately 30% to 40% of cases, leads to kidney failure.

Tofacitinib (Xeljanz) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) stood out among several other biologic and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (sDMARDs) when it came to the incidence of interstitial lung disease (ILD), a retrospective cohort study showed.

AAV is a multi-organ disease, which can be complex and may vary from person to person. Types of AAV include granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). This variety can make management challenging.

After an action packed weekend, RheumNow Live 2023 concluded on Sunday with a half-day session on systemic lupus erythematous and ankylosing spondylitis discussing many new medications that are revolutionizing rheumatology. Dr. Laurent Arnaud, a professor at Strasbourg University in France, however, took the time to review one of our oldest therapies: hydroxychloroquine.

Metformin may help cut the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) in those with type 2 diabetes, researchers reported.

The second day of RheumNow Live 2023 ended with a focus on axial spondyloarthritis, especially on the evaluation of the definition of the disease, the inheritance of it, and of course the treatment of it.

The landscape of biosimilars is vast. This year alone we are expecting 17 biosimilars in rheumatology. While some pharmaceutical company and payer contracts are still under negotiation, we need to start preparing ourselves and our patients.  Drs. Jack Cush and Arthur Kavanuagh shared insights into these key discussions during RheumNow Live 2023.

RheumNow Live’s 2023 conference led with this year’s hot topic of rheumatoid arthritis, and in particular, what to do regarding pre-clinical RA.

At RheumNow Live this weekend, Dr. Christina Chambers, an epidemiologist at the University of California San Diego and the principal investigator of MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies, reviewed the available data on psoriatic arthritis and pregnancy. There is little evidence at this time that pregnancy affects PsA, though studies reliably demonstrate increase in disease activity in the post-partum period in both skin and joint disease.

This week on the podcast, Dr. Jack Cush recalls what life was like early on during COVID, from March to June of 2020.  During this time, his close friend, Larry, contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized, intubated and put on mechanical ventilation for nearly 2 months.

EULAR has published the 2022 update on recommendations for the management of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). AAV recommendations were last published in 2016, and since, research and clinical trials have advanced our understanding of AAV.  A EULAR task force of 20 experts from 16 countries, reviewed the literature and developed four overarching principles and 17 recommendations.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is plagued by obesity, depression and increased comorbidities; now it appears that polypharmacy adds to the burden of managing PsA. A study of 11,984 PsA patients in the German BARMER health insurance database from 2021 compared medicines and comorbidities with sex-matched and age-matched controls without inflammatory arthritis. Polypharmacy was defined as ≥5 concomitant drugs.

A research report in JAMA Dermatology describes the use of the type 1 interferon receptor inhibitor anifrolumab in patients with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE).