Before You Know It (8.25.2023)

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Dr. Jack Cush comments on the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com: VEXAS scoring, scleroderma sine scleroderma and head scratchers from southeast Asia.

Biologic Adherence and Drug Survival in RA Patients

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A real-world rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohort study from Israel shows significant variability of drug survival using biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatics drugs (bDMARDs) and targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs).

ACR Guidelines for Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients with Rheumatic Conditions

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The American College of Rheumatology released summaries of two new guidelines for the Screening and Monitoring of Interstitial Lung Disease in People with Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease and for the Treatment of Interstitial Lung Disease in People with Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases.

WSJ: Do Younger or Older Doctors Get Better Results?

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A recent Wall St. Journal essay (by AB Jena and C Worsham) suggests that a physician’s effectiveness has less to do with age than with how many patients they see and how well they stay up to date on research.

2023 EULAR Recommendations for Imaging in Large Vessel Vasculitis

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EULAR has published its expert consensus regarding the recommendations for imaging in the most common types of large vessel vasculitis (LVV) -- giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TAK).

Fracture Risk Quantified for Older Spondyloarthritis Patients

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Medicare beneficiaries with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) incur frequent bone fractures, a new study indicated, with the risk boosted by some unsurprising factors but also including one that was not expected.

15% of the World Population has Osteoarthritis

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The Lancet reports a new study revealing that the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, affects 15% of the global population over the age of 30.

Cardiovascular Disease Precedes ANCA-associated Vasculitis

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A nested case–control study from the Danish Nationwide Registries finds an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease in the months preceding diagnosis of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV).

Manifestations of Systemic Sclerosis Sine Scleroderma

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Systemic sclerosis (SSc) sine scleroderma is a unique and rare subset of SSc defined by the absence of skin fibrosis. An analysis of the EUSTAR database suggests systemic disease can be a problem, including interstitial lung disease (>40%) and SSc renal crisis (almost 3%). 

Mono- and Oligo- are Different (8.18.2023)

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

COSMOS: Guselkumab's Immunologic Benefits in Psoriatic Arthritis

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The IL-23 inhibitor guselkumab was studied in active psoriatic arthritis patients in the phase 3b COSMOS trial, and shown to be clinically effective while reducing multiple effector cytokines, including those associated with the IL-23/IL-17 pathway.

Imaging Mass Cytometry to Study Lupus Nephritis

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Lupus researchers from the University of Houston are reporting the first use of the powerful imaging mass cytometry to examine the kidneys of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, as a means of diagnosing lupus nephritis in SLE patients.  LN is a severe inflammation of the kidneys and a major cause of death in lupus patients. Up to 60% of SLE patients will develop renal symptoms with 5–20% of those patients progressing to end stage kidney disease within 10 years.