ICYMI: Preventing COVID - Masks, Meters and Eyewear

Save

A Lancet systematic review and meta-analysis provides the basis for physical distancing and the value of making as measures to prevent infection with coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19. The analysis included 172 observational studies, no randomised controlled trials and 44 relevant comparative studies involving 25 697 patients. 

ICYMI: COVID-19 and Thrombotic Complications

Save

Severe and fatal outcomes with coronavirus infection are often the result of the downstream damage that follows the viral infection. Rising high on the list of complications are the hematologic and vascular complications seen in severely affected patients, so much so that many centers are routinely anticoagulating hospitalized (but not ambulatory) COVID patients.

ICYMI: The Nine Lives of Hydroxychloroquine (Updated)

Save

Hydroxychloroquine is one of many medications frequently used in rheumatology practice. Its remarkable versatility is attested by its routine use in lupus, in patients with an autoimmune coagulopathy, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in those with a low-level inflammatory arthropathy.

ICYMI: Outcomes of Critically-Ill COVID Patients in NYC

Save

Lancet has reported COVID outcomes from NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals in NYC during March 2020 showing high rates of hospitalization, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and death.  A prospective observational cohort study 2 2 NYC hospitals from March 2 to April 1, 2020, looking at laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and were critically ill with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure, and collected clinical, biomarker, and treatment data. The primary outcome was in-hospital death.

RheumNow Podcast – Gout Guidelines (7.3.20)

Save

Dr Jack Cush reviews the journal reports and news from RheumNow this past week. Highlights include:

2020 ACR Gout Management Guideline

Save

In May, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) released the"2020 Guideline for the Management of Gout"reflecting new clinical evidence since the last guideline published in 2012.

Coexistent Gout and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Save

While it is often said there is a negative association between gout and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cases of coexistent disorders are uncommonly seen. A recent VA study describes 121 patients whith both RA and gout.

CV Risks Raised in Myopathies

Save

Patients with the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) dermatomyositis and polymyositis are at increased risk for cardiovascular events, with risks similar to what has been documented for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), during the first 5 years after diagnosis, U.K. researchers reported.

Liver Abnormalities in Psoriatic Arthritis

Save

A new report in the Journal of Rheumatology shows that liver abnormalities are common in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and may be associated with obesity, more severe disease and select therapies.

Premature Atherosclerosis in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases

Save

The VITAL study is a VA registry that has shown that both systemic lupus erythematosus  (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients carry higher odds of both premature and extremely premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and its consequences.

COVID's Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children

Save

Two recent reports further characterize the newly described, Kawasaki-like,  syndrome affecting children with COVID-19 infections. The NEJM describes the childhood syndrome as having Kawasaki’s disease, fever, toxic shock syndrome, acute abdominal conditions, and encephalopathy; hence the label Childhood Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome. The disorder emerged in late April 2020, first in the U.K., and then similar cases were reported from many other countries. The CDC named this multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

ACR Position Statement on Telemedicine

Save

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released an official position statement supporting the role of telemedicine as a tool with the potential to increase access and improve care for patients with rheumatic diseases.