14-3-3η is a new serum assay that has utility in diagnosing and treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and early inflammatory arthritis (EIA).  However, the role of this test in patients with RA and EIA is being defined by current research.  

I’m alot better at RA in the last 10 years than I was when I started to practice 30 years ago. RA has not changed, but tools, knowledge and treatments have progressed admirably. Decades have taught me that many aspects of RA were wrongly taught, misunderstood or not apparent when I first started in rheumatology in 1984. Here are 10 things I've learned.

A Northern Sweden early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohort of 950 patients was enrolled starting in 1995. A validated questionnaire at RA onset (T0) and after 5 years (T5) after enrollment. Currently, 726 of these have had RA for ≥5 years.

A population-based study of 1,272,424 live-born infants from Denmark and Sweden examined the prevalence of birth defects among infants born to 683 women with chronic inflammatory disease (inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, or psoriasis) treated with TNF inhibitors (TNFi).

Four men and 4 women, 5 joint replacements, 4 knee arthroscopies, 2 cancers and 6 bad attitudes were not enough to deter the inspiration and perspiration required of us last weekend. So how did we do? And yes, there are pictures. 

Do your patients challenge you? Do you live up to their expectations? How many steps do you have to climb to be better?

CT-P13, a biosimilar of infliximab (Remicade), demonstrated comparable and durable efficacy in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a multinational study found.

Patients believe that a lab result is a numeric true representation their biology and a pivotal arbiter of wellness, yet physicians often dismiss such results as hanging chads in a meaningless election. Why do patients believe their labs moreso than their doctor? 

A recent report from the Mayo Clinic describes a 49 year-old patient with lupus nephritis who presented with new-onset hypertension, edema, arthritis, serositis and leukocytoclastic vasculitis, and who later developed glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome.

A prospective study of 136 people who were CCP+, but who had no clinical evidence of synovitis, examined what factors may predict future development of inflammatory arthritis. After a mean of 18 mos, 42% were diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis and 49/57 met ACR/EULAR criteria for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 

What to do when a patient has a latex allergy and you prescribe an injectable biologic (many having latex allergy as a contraintication)?

(Reuters Health) – Every year since 2006 in the U.S., the amount of new medical research in humans funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has gone down, while the number of industry-funded trials has gone up, a new study shows. 

In 2010, Smolen and a group of international rheumatologists developed a series of recommendations addressing the concept of treat-to-target (T2T) in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).  While these guidelines defined the target (LDAS) and manner of assessment (that would include quantification of synovitis), these were largely consensus based.

Researchers from the DANBIO registry have linked their registry of 30,033 arthritis patients with the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry (DMSR) to identify all new multiple sclerosis cases occuring in arthritis patients and those receiving TNF inhibitors (TNFi). 

Biosimilars are the fastest developing product line within the pharmaceutical industry. There is unanimous worldwide interest in the continued use of biologics for immune mediated disorders. The opportunity to substantially reduce the cost of biologics through the use of biosimilars poses a significant advantage to patients, practitioners and governments internationally.