Anti-Rheumatic Rx

Knee Replacement in Obese OA is Cost Effective

Save

Debates over ideal candidates for total knee replacement (TKR) in osteoarthritis patients often excludes those who are obese, but a recent article in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that TKR is both effective and cost-effective in obese patients (BMI >40 kg/m²)

Pain Persists in RA, Even Without Inflammation

Save

One-third of patients with rheumatoid arthritis had unacceptably high levels of pain 5 years after diagnosis, often despite low levels of inflammation, Swedish researchers found.

In an inception cohort of 232 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, 34.1% still reported unacceptable

Better Outcomes with Modern T2T in Pregnancy

Save

With the expansion of knowledge regarding the safety of newer agents in pregnancy comes the PreCARA study showing that when pregnancy is planned and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are treated with a modified treat-to-target (T2T) approach, superior outcomes can be anticipated.

Progression from Psoriasis to Psoriatic Arthritis

Save

The question of whether psoriasis is a state or pre-clinical psoriatic arthritis has been addressed by several studies; with one suggesting that biologic use in psoriasis may aver the future development of psoratic arthritis (PsA).

A retrospecitve analysis of non-randomized moderate-

FINCH 1 Trial Filgotinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Save

The Annals of Rheumatic Disease has published the results of a head-to-head trial showing that the Janus kinase-1 (JAK1) preferential inhibitor filgotinib was superior to a tumour necrosis factor-α inhibitor (adalimumab) in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on methotrexate (MTX).

Treatment of MIS-C COVID in Kids

Save

The NEJM has published results of a real-world efficacty trial showing that COVID infected children with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) respond better to initial IVIG plus glucocorticoids (than IVIG alone) which was associated with less subsequent cardiovascular

Tofacitinib Efficacy in COVID-19 Pneumonia

Save

NEJM has published the results of an observational trial wherein tofacitinib given to patients hospitalized with Covid-19 pneumonia, was shown to significantly lower risk of death or respiratory failure.

This multicenter trial was conducted in Brazil. A total of 289 hospitalized

Do B-cell targeted therapies still have a place for the treatment of Sjogren’s?

Save

B-cells play a major role in the pathogenesis of primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) through antibody-dependent and antibody-independent functions, as well as evident by progression to B-cell malignancies/lymphoma. Hence, targeting B-cell is attractive. Despite efficacy of B-cell depleting therapy

EULAR 2021 – Day 4 Report

Save

It's been nearly two weeks since EULAR 21 ended. There were several presentations on the last day; notably, the late breaking abstracts and others. Here are a few of my favorites from Day 4, the final day of the meeting.

Problems at the FDA

Save

"While the Food and Drug Administration decision on new drugs usually follows the recommendations of the advisory committee..."; this oft used proviso is used to either indicate a pending FDA decision or an FDA decision that is contrary to the recommendation of the advisory committee convened

Psoriatic arthritis mortality & morbidities

Save

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic condition with manifold clinical presentations. Health issues may be far beyond the classical associated conditions like uveitis, enthesitis etc. The current study of Tillett et al (OP0231) assessed comorbidities and patient characteristics comparing

Current approach to lupus and pregnancy

Save

All of us are extremely cautious with lupus patients when it comes to pregnancy. Presentation 6888 (Common issues in pregnancy management in lupus and anti-phospholipid syndrome by Dr. Rebecca Fischer-Betz) was an excellent overview of our current approach to lupus and pregnancy. 

RheumNow Podcast - Best of EULAR 2021

Save

Dr. Jack Cush reviews and highlights his favorite abstracts and presentations from last week's virtual EULAR 2021 meeting.

Q-DAPSA for Measuring Disease Activity in PsA

Save

Given its multiple domains, there remains much discussion over the best disease activity scoring method in PsA. The proverbial "holy grail" would be a measure that is quick, intuitive, domain comprehensive and validated.

Lessons learned in SLE

Save

An analysis of SLE samples from SLE 1760 patients with active disease from RCTs illustrated several known and some new targets for SLE treatment (POS0351). Markers of pathways

EULAR 2021 - Day 3 Report

Save

Here are a few notable presentations from this past Friday, Day 3 of the EULAR 2021 virtual meeting.

Novel TYK2 Inhibitor Efficacious for Treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis

Save

Dr. Philip Mease et al presented results of a phase II trial (OP0227) at EULAR 2021 that shows the efficacy and safety of an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TYKi), deucravacitinib, for treatment of active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Israel provides COVID vaccine answers for rheumatic disease patients

Save

The question as to how autoimmune rheumatic disease patients fare with the COVID vaccine is one being asked in rheumatologists’ offices everywhere this year, and at the EULAR 2021 Virtual Congress, data presented from Israel, one of the first countries to vaccinate on a broad scale, has