You see them from the corner of your eye, standing with a kyphosis in the waiting room. They are filling out their paperwork, standing up because sitting is just not pleasant. You are the rheumatologist with an  interest in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and spondyloarthritis, so more likely than not, the patient with the bent spine is going to be your next new patient. In the back of your mind you are hoping that they are not so far along so

The following tribute to the late Dr. Steven Katz appeared on the NIH website. 

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from RheumNow for the week ending 12/21/18.

The NEJM reports that the use of zoledronate significantly reduces the risk of nonvertebral or vertebral fragility fractures in women with osteopenia. While it is known that bisphonates have beneficial effects in osteoporosis, their impact in osteopenia has not been shown. 

No significant differences in risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) were seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and those receiving tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, analysis of administrative data showed.

A study of nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) finds abnormalities in more than half of patients suggesting this could be a useful clinical tool in diagnosing and managing patients with IIM. 

Medpage Today has published the results of their 2018 Rheumatology Specialty Salaray Survey.The survey of physicians and health care providers was performed by Health Media Resources and included over 20,000 online responses - of whom only 7753 provided salary information. Here are some of the key points:

Several epidemiological studies have reported that a diagnosis of DM or PM may be associated with increased cancer risk. The association appears stronger for DM than PM. Based on a meta-analysis, DM cancer risk is five times higher than in the general population and twice that compared with PM cancer risk. 

Lilly has issued an advanced press release on its SPIRIT-H2H trial, wherein ixekizumab (Taltz) was shown to be more effective than than adalimumab (Humira) in a 24 week psoriatic arthritis study. SPIRIT-H2H study was designed as a large head-to-head (H2H) superiority study to assess the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab versus adalimumab active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients who are biologic naive.