RWCS Highlights - Day 3 Save

Today I’ve included some research and clinical pearls as well as fodder for your post COVID-19 dinner party or trivia night!  Enjoy!

Psoriatic Arthritis: 2020 Year in Review: with Drs. Alexis Ogdie, Artie Kavanaugh, and Eric Ruderman

• No increased risk of (solid) cancers in TNFi treated PsA patient. (Hellgren K, et al. Rheumatology (Oxford), 2021)
• Exceed data from Wright, G, et al ACR 2020 #507: Female PsA patients had greater BL disease severity, lower Tx responses, including composite measures.
• Deucravacitinib appears to be efficacious and safe in PsA. (Mease P, et al. ACR 2020 #L03, Burke JR, et al. Sci Transi Med 2019; 11:1-16, and Papp K, et al. N Engl J Med 2018;379:1313-21)

Evidence Based Medicine: Diet and Rheumatic Diseases – Fact vs Fiction with Orrin Troum, MD

• Clinical pearl from Dr. Troum, based on data from Neha Bhaskar, et al. ACR 2020 #1230, RA and PsA patients on long-term curcumin reported decreased pain, swelling, fatigue and stiffness. He tends to recommend curcumin with black pepper 500mg po BID.

Hot topics in Allergy/Immunology with Anna Postolova, MD

• There is no interaction with NSAID and curcumin, as has been postulated.
• COVID Vaccine reactions: While we do not know the exact mechanism, our current belief is that the PEG portion may be responsible for IgE, non-IgE or complement mediated reactions.
• Both Pfizer and Moderna use the same 2000kd PEG portion to stabilize the lipid nanoparticle in their respective vaccines.

Pediatric Rheumatology – past, present, and future with Anne Stevens, MD, PhD (this years RWCS Kahuna Teaching Award Recipient) 

• Trivia tidbit from our Big Kahuna, Dr. Anne Stevens: In 1975 Richard Nixon and USSR Secretary Leonid Breznev agreed to cooperate on JRA trials. This effort of medical diplomacy may stem from the fact the Stalin’s personal physician was a rheumatologist and that the HSS Secretary Weinberger’s wife suffered from severe arthritis.