News
MACRA: Not Just an Acronym Inside an Acronym
Education on MACRA is the key to successful survival. The important take home points noted in Dr. Will Harvey’s lecture at ACR 2016 (session title: Holy MACRA! How to Survive and Thrive in the New Era of MACRA, MIPS, and APMs) are stated below.Herpes Zoster and Giant Cell Arteritis
The potential association of herpes zoster with giant cell arteritis (GCA) has been a debated topic and certainly has gotten some attention at ACR 2016 this year.
Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis: Results of the SCOT Trial
Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) is one of the most difficult autoimmune diseases to treat. In case of major organ involvement (lung, kidney), prognosis is poor and treatment options are limited.
Ustekinumab Effective and Safe in Crohn's Colitis
The New England Journal of Medicine has reported the results of a large clinical trial demonstrating the efficacy of ustekinumab (Stelara) in treating patients with active Crohn's disease (CD). (Citation source http://buff.ly/2gsSNcs)
Maintenance of Remission in ANCA-vasculitis: MAINRITSAN study.
It is well known that ANCA-associated vasculitides can be hard to control and relapses are common. The choice of maintenance therapy is rather limited and therapies are not always effective.
Epilepsy is More Likely in Offspring for Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis
The offspring of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be at greater risk for the development of epilepsy, according to a recent report in the journal Neurology, suggesting that epileptogenic triggers may begin during pregnancy and may be wors
Three Year Data on Secukinumab
Dr. Philip Mease, MD presented the long-term efficacy and safety data for secukinumab in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at the ACR Annual meeting in Washington, DC.
My ACR 2016 Highlights
Washington is always a great city to visit (even though there were a few protesters floating around the streets). I hope the posts I made were of interest to some readers. Here are my top 5 highlights from ACR 2016:
ACR16 Day 4 Ends with Rheumatology Roundup
The final day of the 2016 annual ACR meeting saw the return of "Rheumatology Round-up" at 7:30am in Hall D.
Dual Cytokine Inhibition for RA
The notion of a single biologic targeting two cytokines is intriguing. ABT-122 is a new dual-variable domain immunoglobulin that neutralizes both TNF-α and IL-17A.


