The RheumNow Week in Review - 16 February 2018 Save

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and recent research published this week on RheumNow.com. This week's report includes news on social media, new rituximab indications, steroid complications, DECT in Gout, T2T in gout, Dementia and rheumatology numbers.

1. Cambridge study shows that hand thermoregulation is more dependant on muscle mass and not fat - this may be why more women than men bothered by "cold hands" https://t.co/j5zCt3ntW8
2. Pharmacovigilance using Twitter? A UK study compared glucocorticoid AE on Twitter vs UK MHRA regulatory system; in 3 yrs, Twitter Identified 20,210 Steroid AE, but only 3022 via MHRA. Twitter AE “common but not serious”, most being insomnia and weight gain https://buff.ly/2o8LW9F
3. FDA grants priority review for Genentechs Rituxan for use in pemphigus vulgaris https://t.co/e6uKQOf55f
4. 240,000 Canadian COPD patients, >55 yrs; those on inhaled corticosteroids (>4 yrs, >1gm) had 10% higher rate of fractures (men and women) https://t.co/N4rJwrfohY
5. Systematic review of DECT Scanning in Gout included 32 articles & 1502 pts. DECT takes little time and has low radiation exposure but limited availability. It showed Sensitivity & Specificity > 80%. Dx performance was better than Xray, CT, equal to US https://t.co/GkbSKNP7D2   
6. Although epratuzumab (anti-CD22 MAb) failed in SLE in two phase III clinical trials, subanalyses show that pts w/ secondary Sjogrens who were SSA positive (7.1% of 1584 enrolled) where more likely to have a BICLA response and decreases in B cells and IgM. https://t.co/n6Woy8rTka
7. T2T Improves Primary Care Gout Management  
8. DMARDs Lower Dementia Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis  40% reduction; 50% w/ MTX 
9. NHANES Survey Shows OA Rising and RA Declining