Comorbidity and Drugs Drive COVID-19 Severity and Survival in Rheumatic Disease

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While comorbidities are associated with severe COVID-19 infection, it appears they also influence severity and survival in rheumatic disease (RMD), according to a a French cohort study,

IVIg in MIS-C

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Among children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), treatment with IVIG and methylprednisolone vs IVIG alone was associated with a more favorable fever course. MIS-C is a rare but serious pediatric condition associated with COVID-19 where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.

NSAIDs in Osteoarthritis: Study Suggests Need for New Look

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Knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) showed greater loss of medial minimum joint space width than did others taking other drugs, registry data indicated.

Abrupt Cessation of Long-Term Opioid Prescribing Common

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Medicare beneficiaries were increasingly likely to have long-term opioid therapy stopped in recent years and medication changes often were abrupt, not tapered, an observational study showed.

RheumNow Podcast – Tofacitinib Safety Concerns (2.5.2021)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Hydroxychloroquine Fails to Prevent COVID-19

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There is a preponderance and mounting evidence that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective in COVID-19 infection; and now the NEJM reports a the results of a trial where HCQ given as post-COVID exposure therapy failed to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection or symptomatic Covid-19 in healthy persons.

Cardiac and Cancer Signals Tofacitinib Safety Alert from FDA

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The FDA has notified healthcare professionals of a safety alert concerning tofacitinib (Xeljanz), noting that preliminary results from a long-term safety clinical trial show an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer with tofacitinib (compared to adalimumab) when given to

Adverse Events with Anti-malarials during the COVID Pandemic

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For a variety of reasons, the use of anti-malarials (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine) rose dramatically in the pandemic; notable was the lack of proven benefit and the dramatic risk in reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with these drugs being used to treat SARS-CoV-2.

Health Canada Approves Subcutaneous Infliximab Biosimilar

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The infliximab biosimilar CT-P13, developed by Celltrion and marketed as Remsima has been approved by HealthCanad for subcutaneous (SC) use in all the indications for infliximab.

Low Persistence of Biologics in Psoriatic Arthritis

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A longitudinal observational cohort study of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients treated with biologic therapy finds relatively low persistence of selected biologic therapy in PsA patients

Vagal Nerve Stimulation in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Lancet Rheumatology has reported the results of a proof of concept trial, wherein vagal nerve stimulation was shown to ameliorate RA disease activity. The intervention involved non-invasive stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve using a wearable vagus nerve stimulation device for up to 30 min per day, delivering pulses of 20 kHz.

One-Third Rheumatoid Risk from Lifestyle

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Analysis of the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data suggests that one-third of the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the USA is attributable smoking, obesity and alcohol intake.

RheumNow Podcast – Rheumatology Burnout (1.29.2021)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's journal articles and news features on RheumNow.com. Colchicine, vaccine rollout, risk of RA in endometriosis patients, tREACH trial, lupus nephritis news, rheumatology burnout and more.

Calculating Serious Infection Risk in IMID Patients

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Predictive modeling of data derived from the DANBIO registry (of treated IMID patients) revealed a 4 fold increased risk of serious infection (SIE) in those starting biologic DMARD (bDMARD) treatment. From this large dataset, researchers developed a simple prediction model to estimate future infection risk that may inform shared decision-making in individual patients.

High Placebo Responses in SLE Trials

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A systematic review by Urowitz and colleagues examined placebo responses in randomized controlled trials of non-renal, non-neuropsychiatric SLE patients showing unexpectedly high placebo responses; with more than one-third of the placebo-treated SLE patients responding by validated outcome measures.