Remission often invites consideration of drug withdrawal in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Now an open label study of ixekizumab (IXE) treated axSpA patients in remission has shown that the vast majority of IXE withdrawal patients who later flared were able to recapture disease control. 

The CDC has updated its Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain and includes recommendations for managing acute (duration of <1 month), subacute (duration of 1–3 months), and chronic (duration of >3 months) pain.

This guideline provides recommendations for clinicians providing pain care, including those prescribing opioids, for outpatients aged ≥18 years. The recommendations do not apply to pain related to sickle cell disease or cancer or to patients receiving palliative or end-of-life care.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released Continuing Medical Education (CME) for dermatologists and nephrologists to help them learn more about clinical trials for lupus patients in their respective treatment areas and the importance of getting more of their African American/Black patients enrolled.

The number of new diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis fell by 20% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from this past week on RheumNow.com.  New regulatory decisions about JAK inhibitors and why do women with rheumatic diseases have unfair outcomes?

1. Population study shows among vaccinated gout pts, COVID breakthrough infection occurred in @ 4.68/1K Pt-mos vs 3.76/1K Pt-mos in non-Gout persons. Gout w/ Covid had More Hosp (aHR=1.30) & death (aHR=1.36), moreso in Women w/ gout (aHR 1.55 & 2.46) https://bit.ly/3gYUcYI

Winthrop and colleagues have reviewd the occurrence of opportunistic infections (OIs) associated with the use of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), showing that Herpez zoster (HZ) was the most common OI reported with JAK inhibitors in clinical trials, although tuberculosis (TB) and other OIs were also reported. 

Structured literature searches found105 publications describing 62 unique clinical trials reporting the rates of OIs in RA patients treated with JAK inhibitors.

A EULAR Task force has developed recommendations for screening and prophylaxis of chronic and opportunistic infections in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD).

Americans’ willingness to use video telehealth has increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising most sharply among Black Americans and people with less education, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Following a representative survey panel of Americans from March 2019 through March 2021, researchers found that the willingness to use video telehealth increased overall from 51% in February 2019 to 62% in March 2021.

Type I interferon (IFN) is a powerful immune activator that is present at high levels in the majority of patients with lupus, an autoimmune disease. In Arthritis & Rheumatology, researchers report positive results from the first placebo-controlled long-term trial of anifrolumab—a human monoclonal antibody that targets the type I IFN receptor—in patients with lupus. 

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic musculoskeletal disease which can be managed with both pharmacological and non-pharmacological options. The joint ASAS-EULAR recommendations for axSpA were first developed in 2006, and last updated in 2016. The current update reflects newly available evidence since the last version.

The updated recommendations were developed by a multidisciplinary task force of 33 members from 16 countries.

The updated 2022 EULAR recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were initially presented by Dr. Josef Smolen at EULAR 2022, and are now in press delineating the most recent developments and perspectives in RA treatment.

Devised, reviewed and updated by an international task force who reviewed the medical literature and updates its consensus recommendations that were last published in 2019. The task force consisted of the steering group of 15 individuals and an additional 33 experts from multiple countries.

Rheumatoid arthritis treatment has come leaps and bounds in recent decades. Gone are the days of gold injections, chemical synovectomies, and physician-mandated bedrest (heaven forbid). Though the marketplace for RA treatments is becoming ever more crowded, there are still unmet needs. Whether it be residual low-level disease activity, longer duration therapies or concerns regarding medication safety (ORAL surveillance is front of mind for everyone), there is still a role for novel therapies in RA.

After decades of having little else proven apart from glucocorticosteroids with which to treat polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), evidence for steroid-sparing options has grown in recent years, and this crescendo is set to continue at ACR Convergence 2022 in Philadelphia, PA.

Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com and looks forward to highlight sessions in the next few days at ACR Convergence 2022.

1. Study of 78 824 adults shows Prevalence of Cannabis use was significantly higher during the pandemic vs before the pandemic in states where it is legalized (but not increase in nonlegal states) esp in adults 18 to 29 and 30 to 54 years https://t.co/ZZzCl7dstj

The pharmaceutical companies have will showcase their featured clinical trials and abstracts at ACR 2022.  These are their best studies for you to review and evaluate as part of your to-do list. In the least, you should be familiar with the names and objectives of some of these studies as they will be discussed and mentioned throughout the meeting.

Abbvie

The patient advocacy organization CreakyJoints will present 13 scientific posters at this year's ACR Convergence 2022 and 8 posters as part of the patient perspectives track. Below is a sampling of these scientific posters. 

• Priority Research Topics for Vaccine Uptake Among Adults with Autoimmune Conditions (Oral Presentation, Abstract 2247, Monday, November 14, 2022, 4:30-6:00pm ET)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact worldwide particularly among those who are immunocompromised. Numerous studies have highlighted the increased risk of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with rheumatic diseases (RD). Public health measures including masking, social distancing, and vaccination have helped to lower the risk of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in this population. However, many challenges persist since the onset of the pandemic.