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Location, Location, Location (7.26.2024)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Location matters; Geo-rheumatology?

PEXIVAS: Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Patients

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A secondary analysis of the PEXIVAS study showed antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis (AAV) patients complicated by diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) may have improved with plasma exchange and glucocorticoids, the results did not achieve significance. 

Diffuse

Digital Self Screening for Arthritis Diagnosis

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There are numerous impediments to diagnosis or referral; and a new study evaluates patient use of a mobile artificial intelligence (AI)–based symptom checker for diagnoses, but demonstrated only modest accuracy when applied to a cohort of patients with joint symptoms.

RA & OA: Nearly 40% have Anxiety, Depression or Fibromyalgia

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Researchers at Rush University analyzed clinic MDHAQ data and found between 36-40% of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients screen positive comorbid anxiety, depression, or fibromyalgia.

Patients with Financial Limits Struggle with Medication Adherence

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Analysis of the National Health Interview Survey shows that nearly 1 in 5 patients with rheumatologic disease in the United States struggled economically, suffering from food insecurity and cost related medication (CRM) nonadherence.

Bad News Coronary Artery Calcium in Rheumatic Patients

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A recent presentation at the 2024 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography meeting by Brittany Weber MD, PhD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) has shown that incidental findings of coronary artery calcium on chest CTs in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases may be associated

Best Rheumatologists (7.19.2024)

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This week on the RheumNow Podcast, Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports of interesting, including irAE, pollution and Psoriasis, microwave therapy, scleroderma without scleroderma that only the best rheumatologists could discern.

JAK Inhibitors Reduce Macular Degeneration

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Insurance claims data showed that patients with autoimmune disorders who took Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors had lower rates of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), hinting that the drugs might treat the common eye disease.

Geography of Arthritis-attributable Pain in the USA

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The journal Pain has shown geographic differences in arthritis-attributable pain, arthritis-related outcomes mostly clustered in the Deep South and Appalachia, while severe arthritis pain is more prevalent in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, Georgia, Florida, and Maine.  

Top 20 Best Rheumatology Hospitals - 2024

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Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore has been named the top hospital for rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report. This is the 7th year in a row they have held this spot.

The top 5 rheumatology hospitals are largely the same as last year (with some minor shuffling) and includes

Updated EULAR Recommendations on the Treatment of Systemic Sclerosis

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Medscape has published an overview to the 2024 updated recommendations for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) presented in Vienna at EULAR 2024 by Professor Francesco Del Galdo, MD, PhD on behalf of a 27 member task force.

The new recommendations (n=20)

ACR Comments on CMS Proposed 2025 Physician Payment Rule

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The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) shared the following initial reaction to the proposed CY 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and Quality Payment Program rule.

Systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma

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Systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma (ssSSc), which accounts for nearly 10% of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients and was first described in 1962, is a subset of SSc.

Pollution and Autoimmunity (7.12.2024)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Ultraprocessed Foods Increase Lupus Risk

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Among women followed for upwards of 25 years, those who ate relatively large amounts of "ultraprocessed" foods -- such as soft drinks, frozen pizzas, and mass-produced baked goods -- developed systemic lupus erythematosus at more than 50% greater rates than those with relatively low consumption

Progress in SLE with new mRNA CAR-T cell Trial

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Cartesian Therapeutics, has announced their first-in-class mRNA-engineered chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (mRNA CAR-T) therapy has been given to the first systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE). patient in a Phase 2 open-label clinical trial. 

The investigational drug,

Efficacy of Biologics in Patients with Chronic KIdney Disease

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PMR - a Risk Factor for Recalcitrant Giant Cell Arteritis?

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Cost-Effectiveness of Biosimilars vs Leflunomide

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An economic evaluation of 25 099 rheumatoid arthritis patients found that treatment with biosimilar disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were cost-effective compared with the conventional DMARD, leflunomide. Does this suggest RA treatment guidelines need to be amended to allow

ICYMI: Can Mycophenolate be Stopped in Stable SLE?

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In patients with clinically stable systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis, the withdrawal of mycophenolate mofetil was not significantly inferior to mycophenolate maintenance, but MMF withdrawal had numerically more reactivations, while MMF maintenance had more infections.

ICYMI: 2023 EULAR Psoriatic Arthritis Recommendations

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EULAR has updated its treatment recommendations from the prior 2019 guidelines, since there have been several newly developed agents. The updated guidance includes 7 overarching principles and 11 recommendations regarding treatment strategy and pharmacological therapies.

ICYMI: Hidradenitis Suppurativa-Related Autoinflammatory Syndromes

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Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a suppurative inflammatory skin disorder that is considered to be autoinflammatory by many. HS includes a specturm of disorders, linked by suppurative (or psoriatic) skin disease and potentially genetics. These HS-related disorders may include pyoderma

ICYMI: 9 Facts about Leflunomide

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Medscape has published an informative review of leflunomide, drawn from Dr. Eric Ruderman’s recent lecture on the subject at the February RWCS meeting in Maui. Here are some highpoints from this Medscape article and lecture.

ICYMI: Enthesitis, Synovitis, and Tenosynovitis in Psoriatic Arthritis

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An ultrasound study suggests that enthesitis is associated with both synovitis and tenosynovitis in patients with Psoriatic arthritis (PsA).