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Secukinumab Better than Adalimumab - Maybe?

The EXCEED study was a head-to-head trial of secukinumab (SEC) versus adalimumab (ADA) as first-line monotherapy in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients; this 52 week trial showed that while SEC failed to achieve clinical superiority over ADA, SEC treated patients demonstrated higher

RheumNow Podcast – The Beat Goes On (5.8.20)

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

COVID-19 and Thrombotic Complications

Severe and fatal outcomes with coronavirus infection are often the result of the downstream damage that follows the viral infection.

Physical Activity Prevents Hospitalization

Modifiable lifestyle choices can impact long term health.  A recent study shows that usual and increased physical activity can results in less hospitalization amongst the the general population.

TNR Grand Rounds: IL-6 in Health and Disease

Dr. Len Calabrese from the Cleveland Clinic delivers this week's Tuesday Nite Rheumatology Grand Rounds, entitled "IL-6 in Health and Disease: Where Rheumatology Meets COVID-19". Dr. Calabrese provides a comprehensive review of IL-6 biology, and discusses IL-6 signaling, IL-6 roles in health, exercise, infection, innate and adaptive immunity as pertains to both rheumatology and the management of coronavirus infection.

Hydroxychloroquine's World of Confusion - What you Need to Know

Hydroxychloroquine has been a dominant news item since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, with a great deal of misconceptions by those who don't know or use or take the drug. HCQ leaped to the headlines on March 19th when President Trump endorsed the drug as being “approved” by FDA. Of course at that time, it was still only approved for SLE, RA and malaria and it wasn't until 2 weeks later (March 31st) that the FDA issued an "emergency use authorization" allowing the use of either chloroquine or HCQ for treatment of severe, hospitalized patients with COVID-19. To provide clarity and evidence - here are some of the facts you need to know.

ACR: In-Person Urgent vs. Virtual Non-Urgent Medical Care

On April 26, 2020 the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) published a guidance paper to assist rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals in assessing the need for urgent or face-to-face medical care versus virtual or telehealth patient care.  The driving principals being

Cigarette Smoking and ANCA-Associated Vasculitis

JAMA Internal Medicine has reported that cigarette smoking associated with an increased odds of having antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis (AAV) (especially MPO positive AAV) and is thereby a modifiable risk factor for AAV.

Biologic Dose Cuts Feasible in RA

Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who achieved remission or low disease activity on biologic treatment were able to reduce the dose of their biologic, particularly if they were also on methotrexate, a retrospective study found.

Hydroxychloroquine and QTc Prolongation

JAMA Cardiology reports the risk of QT (QTc) prolongation when hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was given to hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially when given with azithromycin. 

RheumNow Podcast – Novel COVID Rheum Trials (5.1.20)

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week. Many interesting early reports on the use of rheumatic drugs, including hydroxychlorquine, IL-6 inhibitors, canakinumab, baricitinib and colchicine. Below are some of the links or citations of interest.

Lenabasum Encouraging in Systemic Sclerosis

The oral cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) agonist lenabasum showed promising results for systemic sclerosis (SSc) in a phase II study.

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