Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
ACR MTX monitoring guidelines from 1994 (Alarcon et al) -pts should be screened for HBV, HCV, Alb. At AST, ALT should be checked at intervals of every 4-8 weeks. MTX should be stopped/adjusted or liver Bx if AST abnl in 5 of 9 (or 6/12) in 12 mos. https://t.co/8lcPz7sH3F
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to 15 companies for illegally selling products containing cannabidiol (CBD) in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This warning affirms that the FDA has not determined the many preparations of cannabidiol to be safe or effective.
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Data from 5 RCTs of 733 pts with systemic necrotizing vasculitis examined risks for serious infection (SIE), finds that 20.2% had SIEs and 2/3 these occured within the first 2 yrs. Age, Lung involvement & 5 Factor Score were independent predictors of SIE https://t.co/imHVsZgVfG
In the United Kingdom, NICE has looked to the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) to develop evidence based guidance on the safe use of biologic DMARDs in patients with inflammatory arthritis. This guidance document on biologic safety covers baseline screening, monitoring, effect of co-morbidities, and when or under what circumstances biologic therapy should be interrupted.
Secukinumabs (SEC) effect on enthesitis in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) was studied in the FUTURE 2 and 3 studies and SEC was shown significantly reduced enthesitis by more than 65% within 14 week.
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Propensity Score–Matched Cohort claims study compared 11,248 matched pairs RA pts starting either abatacept or TNF inhibitor. ABA had a signficiantly lower risk of hospitalized infx compared to infliximab (HR 0.63), but equal SIE risk vs ETN or ADA. https://t.co/brid5dAdIh
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Palmoplantar pustulosis has very low prevalence rates (<0.1%), qualifying as an orphan disease, Registry data from US, Denmark, Germany identified 1,435, 751 and German PPP patients, respectively; 14-61% also have Psoriasis, with higher risk of PsA https://t.co/S6r4GtG3bF
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Ultrasound study of 980 #gout pts finds Bone erosions were seen in 44%, with 78.4% of these found in the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint. Independent predictors include age, duration of gout, tophi, US synovitis and and joint effusion. https://t.co/LxjgfM29Xd
A multinational cross-sectional cohort study suggests that smoking cessation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is associated with lower disease activity measures, improved lipid profiles and lower rates of cardiovascular (CV) events.
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Of 1757 systemic sclerosis patients in the EUSTAR study, 25% had diffuse SSc and 9% had current or previous digital gangrene, 16% had digital ulcers (DUs), not CV risk factors. https://t.co/31ypT1V1zO
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Meta-analysis of 30 studies shows that ACPA-positive RA patients are marginally more likely to achieve EULAR and ACR20 responses with abatacept (RR 1.18; 95% CI 1.03, 1.35), but not with TNFα-i (RR 0.97; 0.86, 1.10) (compared to ACPA-negative) https://t.co/V5CviFVSGt
American College of Rheumatology ACRheum
6 years 10 months ago
ACR/ARP 2019 attendees get “sneak preview” of updated gout clinical practice guideline → https://t.co/VRyfj75nVu #ACR19
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
6 years 10 months ago
Metanalysis shows that although MTX may blunt some vaccine responses (eg Pneumococcal), the use of MTX, TNF inhibitors and other biologics should not deter vaccination as most vaccine responses are preserved despite therapy. https://t.co/KINrQMIQkt
