Panacea of Prednisone & Cannabis (5.16.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal and regulatory reports from this week on RheumNow.com. Interesting trends and results with prednisone in lupus, cannabis in RA and opioid deaths too!
Read Article
Is the nosology of CPPD outdated? Pseudogout to chondrocalcinosis? In 2011 EULAR taskforce rec the preferred term "calcium pyrophosphate deposition dz". G-CAN aims to update & standardised terminology for CPPD, requiring change to ICD-10 & adoption by societies https://t.co/mdqwDQN1po
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Is the nosology of CPPD outdated? Pseudogout to chondrocalcinosis? In 2011 EULAR taskforce rec the preferred term "calcium pyrophosphate deposition dz". G-CAN aims to update & standardised terminology for CPPD, requiring change to ICD-10 & adoption by societies https://t.co/wTdc0Tosc6
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
2023 report from US NHANES study says #Gout affects 12.1 million in the USA. Gout prevalence incr from 3.6% in 2011/12 to 5.1% in 2017/2018. Recent increases do to doubling in Asian Americans from 3.3% to 6.6%. https://t.co/IBa3fOt83c https://t.co/06Ltm0FycI
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Keys to Mastery (5.2.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, articles and drug approvals from the past week on RheumNow.com. This podcast marks the beginning of our Lupus Campaign called "Lupus Unlocked: Keys to Mastery". This month's campaign on Lupus is sponsored by Aurinia.
Read Article
Gout pts No-Shows after ED: Study of 159 gout pts w/ gout flare & ED visit - only 56 (35%) had an outpatient visit addressing gout within 6 mos. Higher odds w/ being married (OR 2.66), no comorbidities (OR 3.86), colchicine use (OR 2.7), being older (OR 1.44) https://t.co/tAorjwf8xX
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Osteoarthritis Risky Business (4.18.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and Journal reports from this week on RheumNow. Osteoarthritis patients have unique risks and synovial fluid WBC numbers can tell you when to worry about septic arthritis in gout and pseudogout patients. https://t.co/T9KGoOBANN
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Distinguishing Septic and Gouty Arthritis
A single center, retrospective review of patients undergoing knee joint fluid aspirations for presumed crystalline arthritis (CA) showed that synovial WBC may provide a useful diagnostic marker for SA with an optimal threshold of 50,000 https://t.co/ye69mRooSh
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Osteoarthritis Risky Business (4.18.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and Journal reports from this week on RheumNow.com. Osteoarthritis patients have unique risks and synovial fluid WBC numbers can tell you when to worry about septic arthritis in gout and pseudogout patients.
Read Article
Distinguishing Septic and Gouty Arthritis
A single center, retrospective review of patients undergoing knee joint fluid aspirations for presumed crystalline arthritis (CA) showed that synovial WBC may provide a useful diagnostic marker for SA with an optimal threshold of 50,000 cells/mm3.
Distinguishing septic arthritis (SA)
Read Article
2nd Opinions in Rheumatology
https://t.co/R4CjJHEaL4 https://t.co/0quDwdANyU
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Systematic review of colchicine and pregnancy in #FMF pts included 25 studies. Miscarriage was not increased w/ colchicine in FMF (RR 0.87). Birth defects were similar to unexposed pts (range 0.6% to 4.0%). Colchicine showed no effects (men/women) on fertility. 1 study reported… https://t.co/axiH9jhEJr https://t.co/oBpew71fZw
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific, particularly those of Polynesian descent, have a high prevalence of hyperuricaemia and gout. Gout in Indigenous peoples of the Pacific is severe, associated with family history and is experienced at a relatively young age.… https://t.co/phf5RRkJzE https://t.co/q4VO34Ea5z
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Available the first time: https://t.co/4UQlqwujiR 2025 On Demand!
On Demand gives you access to all lectures, Q & A panels, and STEP talks, and all speaker slides and handouts — all packed with insights you won’t find anywhere else.
Non-CME, practical, and finally here.… https://t.co/qZb8OKjPpw https://t.co/Exr8u6QkNc
Links:
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
The Cartel is Coming for Rheumatology
"What Do Blockbuster Drugs & The Black Market All Have in Common?" asked Dr. Madelaine Feldman at RheumNow Live 2025. They thrive, she explained, on market exclusivity "... until they don't." At first glance, the pharmaceutical marketplace may not appear like a crime drug ring, but Dr.
Read Article
Pregnancy is 🔥 inflammatory
Hard to interpret MRI of SI joints in setting of pregnancy
Ideally, don't score MRI during pregnancy or 1 year afterwards, would be affected by the pregnancy
If needed for clinical eval, focus on structural lesions like erosions
#RNL2025 @RheumNow
Eric Dein @ericdeinmd( View Tweet )
Proinflammatory Diet Increases Gout Risk
Some dietary habits are worse than others when it comes to gout risk for women, a large study indicated.
https://t.co/DS6JDfJZI4 https://t.co/U3Xwq96oGj
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Participation is Up! (1.31.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. We also have two call-in cases on "Ask Cush Anything".
Be sure to join in the fun at RNL 2025 next weekend - Gong Show Karaoke; what will you sing?
Read Article
SubAnalysis of STOP Gout Trial: 277 pts w/ CKD received either allopurinol or febuxostat. Most achieved SUA goal (79% vs 81%), fewer allopurinol pts had gout flares (32% vs 45%; P=0.02); AKI only seen stage w/ 3 CKD (allopurinol > febuxostat) https://t.co/wwfVCei4Ej https://t.co/W8Y7KxcSd4
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Proinflammatory Diet Increases Gout Risk
MedPage Today
Some dietary habits are worse than others when it comes to gout risk for women, a large study indicated.
Read Article
Open label trial of starting MTX in 11 uncontrolled gout pts previously Rx w/ IV pegloticase (PEG 2-27x) showed if gout pts failed PEG monotherapy, only 1/11 (9%) showed a good response to adding MTX w/ PEG. MTX must be started w/ PEG initiation to work https://t.co/aoBtyIRbQe https://t.co/RNe03O6Z1N
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Febuxostat (ULORIC) is discontinued by the manufacturer in the USA. This week an FDA update on drug shortages list announced Uloric has been discontinued. Takeda sited dropping sales, generic competition, and CV safety concerns in the last decade. GENERIC febuxostat should still… https://t.co/QcUNCUFfvJ https://t.co/oBdwkcN177
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
post hoc analysis of 4 registration trials of pegloticase, show rates of MACE and Thromboembolic Events were Infrequent (<1.5%; 35.4 events/1000 PY), similar to general gout population (31.7 events/1000 person-years) https://t.co/v6ZqtL4yB2 https://t.co/NA0j20Oew2
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Weak Data (1.24.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from RheumNow.com, and features Dr. Charity Dean, the Keynote speaker at RheumNow Live 2025, and why she is an inspiration.
Read Article
Do Rheumatologists Follow 2020 ACR Guidelines on Gout?
Schlessinger and colleagues report that US Rheumatologists generally adhere to and agree with the 2020 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Guideline for the Management of Gout, although knowledge gaps and practice variance exists.
A total of 201 US
Recent Blogs
