Rheumatology Pay Up (9.25.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Earlier Dx of axSpA is assoc w/ lower long-term spinal structural damage. Swiss study compared xray outcomes betw 138 early (<2yrs) & 238 established axSpA pts w/ 11.5 yrs F/U. Differences became evident 10-15 yrs after Dx. https://t.co/E9oR37CEiD https://t.co/7FiaqJIRRC
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Systematic review 14 studies assessed Lung ultrasound (LUS) (vs HRCT) to detect RA-ILD (using threshold of ≥ 5 B-lines) found sensitivity was 86.8% (95% CI 80.1–91.4), specificity 75.4% (95% CI 62.3–85.1), and AUC 0.890 https://t.co/GlNpsPBwtS https://t.co/FJ6B5E5CWy
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Scleroderma-Specific Autoantibodies in Early Systemic Sclerosis
Prognostication is tenous in early scleroderma, especially in those with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc). dcSSc has associated with substantial morbidity and disease-specific mortality. Analysis of an early SSc registry shows that anti-RNA
ACR Updates Osteoarthritis Guidance
ACR
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released updated clinical guidance for the treatment and management of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, hip, and hand. The evidence-based recommendations update the 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline and are designed to support individualized,
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Added IVIG is Effective in Myositis
A small randomized controlled trial demonstrates that intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) added to cortocosteroids lead to greater and faster improvements in patients with newly
Early RA Referral Clinics Work!
An outcomes study from the Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic (EAC) has shown substantially less diagnostic delay and better long-term outcomes when patients are referred to EAC compared to usual referrals.
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JAMA: Review of Adult Rheumatoid Arthritis
Smolen, Kerschbaumer, Aletaha, and Robinson have published a comprehensive review article of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in JAMA, noting significant changes to our understanding and treatment guidelines.
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NME: New Molecular Entities (8.28.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from this past week on RheumNow.com. Take this week's RheumIQ and test your knowledge!
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In the JAMA review of shoulder pain, what is the recommended first-line treatment for most shoulder diagnoses?
Test your knowledge in this week's RheumIQ at https://t.co/TBlB4pmnKa https://t.co/mKClL2P0Tc
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
JAMA: Review of Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain affects 16% of adults annually and is the third most common musculoskeletal presentation in primary care. This new review reframes the diagnostic and therapeutic approach, moving away from pathoanatomic labels (rotator cuff tendinopathy, impingement, bursitis) toward the umbrella
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Doubting RS3PE (8.14.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles this week where RheumNow featured info on cancer, deadly viruses, AI rules, poetry and good moons rising.
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Evaluating Inflammatory Joint Pain in Older Adults
Lee, Levinson, and Makris have published an approach to evaluating inflammatory joint pain in older adults in JAMA Internal Medicine. While intended to be a practical guide for primary care clinicians, the tenets and clues ring true for all.
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Arrhythmias in Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease
A new review in the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (Tamirisa et al) synthesizes how systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic sclerosis have an increased risk of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death attributable to shared immune pathways.
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JAMA Review of Hip Fracture
The July 16th edition of JAMA reviews the highly prevalent problem of hip fractures - a major global health burden: 14.2 million occur worldwide annually (280,000 in the US), with global incidence higher in women (833.9/100,000) than men (510.0/100,000). Lifetime risk at age 50 is 22.9% for
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Gout: Diagnosis
The diagnosis of gout - labs, imaging and polarized microscopy, created by @MithuRheum for RheumNow.
https://t.co/s8gkANFJSB https://t.co/pkUeFLG5if
Links:
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Chikungunya Club Meeting (7.24.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Expert Perspective on Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition Disease
A recent perspective by Tedeschi tackles many unresolved issues around CPPD diagnosis, classification, and management, including the lack of clinical trials or FDA approved treatments.
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QD Clinic: When There's Doubt in Gout
Dr. Eric Dein discusses how imaging was used in correctly diagnosing a mid-foot symptom in gout.
https://t.co/FNI6rlOz1O https://t.co/Xpw98DiEvs
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Psoriatic Arthritis: EULAR 2026 Recap
Years of IL-17 vs. IL-23 debate in PsA finally got tested head-to-head: bimekizumab outperformed risankizumab on joint outcomes in the BE BOLD trial, while a GLP-1 combination study suggests weight and metabolic status are active drivers of PsA — not just comorbidities. This recap also digs into
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Seronegative RA Disease Activity (7.17.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and Gout features from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Gout Imaging in Care
Gout is all about the crystals and the consequences of the disease are due to the inflammation they cause. Getting rid of urate crystals is the ultimate goal in gout, as we now know that it leads to the risk zero of flares and it normalizes the https://t.co/DGuiTOtQFa
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
While not a validated Dx tool for gout, AI retinal scanning of digital fundus photography was tested on 107730 pts & showed high ROC - f NIDDM 0.833, Gout 0.832, OP 0.787, HTN 0.740, hyperlipidemia 0.736 & thyroid Dz 0.699 https://t.co/1yrlR04z4g https://t.co/c04YtVVERY
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Guidelines to Spot Cancer in High Risk Dermatomyositis
MedPage Today
International guidelines can help identify dermatomyositis patients with a particularly high risk for cancer, according to a retrospective single-center U.S. study.
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Gout Imaging in Care
Gout is all about the crystals and the consequences of the disease are due to the inflammation they cause. Getting rid of urate crystals is the ultimate goal in gout, as we now know that it leads to the risk zero of flares and it normalizes the cardiovascular risk level of patients
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Diagnosis of PMR
RheumNow
Nine perspectives now available: Red Flags in the Diagnosis of PMR; Epidemiology of PMR; Role of the PCP in Diagnosis and Care; Importance of Diagnostic Imaging; ESR/CRP in PMR; PMR Must Rule Outs; Which PMR Patients Should Rheumatologists See?; Is There Hidden GCA?; and PMR Mimics.
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Recent Blogs
For decades we've been screening GCA with a patient history and exam. Doing so with imaging would be a sharp departure from the current standard of care. And you may be asking yourself, well, yeah, but what could it hurt? Don't you want to catch GCA early?
Let me tell you the problems with this.
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PMR might be one of the most rewarding diagnoses to make in real practice: the patient comes to you in severe debilitating pain, and you prescribe steroids, giving them their lives back! As much as this impressive response makes your intervention appear almost magical, there is the often-forgotten story about the implications of such a diagnosis and treatment on patients' daily lives.
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Podcasts
EULAR 2026 Daily Podcast Day 3a
ACR Podcast - Day1A
