Hepatitis B reactivation is an uncommon complication of biologic therapy use. Now, a serologic study of rheumatoid arthritis patients shows that HBV reactivation is seen with rituximab, and less so with abatacept, especially in patients without hepatitis B antibody (HBsAb) positivity.
Read Article
Ogdie and colleagues have retrospectively analyzed a longitudinal cohort of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients, showing that only two-thirds of PsA are diagnosed by rheumatologists, PCPs and dermatologists, with significant differences in what preemptive symptoms were noted by different
Read Article
Inclusion body myositis (IBM) patients tend to be older than those with idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM), but the scope of disease beyond their myositis is not appreciated. Now, a population-based, case-control study suggests both a lower overall survival and high comorbidity burden in
Read Article
Smartphones and diet; COVID-19 and the numbers - reassuring or not, and what about masks?; and do more drugs mean more switching, less persistence, and patient adherence goes up...or down? All this and more news and journal reports in this week's episode.
Read Article
Chronic inflammatory disease (CID) patients are urged to receive the COVID-19 vaccines; but when a cohort of CID patients treated with immunosuppressive medications were given an mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, only those treated with glucocorticoids and B cell depleting therapies (BCDT)
Read Article
The American College of Rheumatology has issued an updated version of its COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Guidance for Patients with Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases following recent recommendations from the CDC that certain immunocompromised patients receive a third dose of an available mRNA
Read Article
A prospective study evaluated the value and associations with morning stiffness in patients with clinically suspect arthralgia, and found that the presence of morning stiffness increases the odds of inflammation (as detected by CRP and MRI synovitis).
Read Article
Among the factors that were associated with an increased risk for the development of rheumatic immune-related adverse events following cancer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) was the type of malignancy involved, a large case-control study found.
Read Article
You know, I'm a very good driver. We all think we're great drivers - but consider what it's like to drive in pain: would you be a good driver? Also, I want you to consider the diagnosis of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate disease (CPPD). But first, let's look at a study out of Scotland, looking
Read Article
The interleukin-6 inhibitor, tocilizumab (TCZ), was studied in a cohort of difficult systemic sclerosis (SSc)Â and was shown to be effective in refractory joint and skin disease with good long-term retention rates and disease stabilization.
TCZ is currently FDA approved for use in SSc
Read Article
It was a banner week at the FDA; a new drug approval you should know about; a lot of information about pregnancy and safety; and an interesting case plus a question from one of our readers submitted via Back Talk. This and more in this week's podcast. Let's dive in.
Read Article
Methotrexate and leflunomide (LEF) are the most widely prescribed DMARDs worldwide; yet biologic DMARDs are the newest and best selling agents for rheumatoid arthritis worldwide. A recent study of combination therapy with MTX and LEF underscores the efficacy and safety of this approach and
Read Article
An increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in rheumatoid arthritis is well known and feared but an RA cohort study suggests that preventive medication use in RA patients lags behind that seen in diabetes mellitus (DM).
Read Article
JAMA has published the findings of trial wherein the antiâinterleukin-1β antibody canakinumab (CAN) failed to improve survival in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19.
Other studies have suggested that the use of IL-1 inhibitors (anakinra) may improve COVID outcomes,
Read Article
Lancet Rheumatology has published a cohort analysis showing that a small but significant subset of children presenting with arthralgia or arthritis may have a pediatric malignancy.
This multicentre study sought to identify articular presentations of children manifesting
Read Article
2020 was historic, memorable and game-changing. Under the cloud of COVID-19, there were many significant and memorable advances and setbacks for the rheumatology world. In our accounting of most read articles for 2020, (not surprisingly) 17/20 were COVID-related. Below, are our top news items
Read Article
Neuropsychiatric (NP-SLE) or CNS lupus events range from mild to severe; several recent studies have noted that NPS lupus is common and should be screened for.
A metanalysis of the literature finds 22 studies wherein the mean frequency of NPSLE ranged from 10.6% to 96.4%. When researchers with
Dr. Jack Cush reviews this weekâs news and journal reports featured on RheumNow.com.
Read Article
Dr. Jack Cush reviews and highlights his favorite abstracts and presentations from last week's virtual EULAR 2021 meeting.
Read Article
EULAR 2021 opened with a grand debate to answer this essential question: should clinicians treat to remission or to Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS)? Â
Read Article
Aurelie Najm @AurelieRheumo( View Tweet )
The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a common disorder affecting patients with and without autoimmune disease. Despite wider recognition of APS among physicians as well as the expanding research collaborations, many clinical questions are still encountered in clinical practice, which require further evidence-based studies. In this âAcross the Tableâ edition, Drs. Cush and Erkan discuss some of these APS-related questions. Our guest expert, Dr. Doruk Erkan offers up his approach to diagnosis and management of APS.
Read Post
