Practice

Risk vs. Benefit Lessons from the ORAL Surveillance Study

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In an editorial in the current edition of the NEJM, Dr. Jasvinder Singh comments on the Oral Surveillance trial (Ytterberg et al.), a 4-year randomized, open-label, noninferiority, postauthorization, safety end-point trial, in high risk active rheumatoid arthritis patients over age 50 years.

MMWR: Booster Vaccine Efficacy in Immunosuppressed Patients

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For adults aged ≥18 years who received 2 doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, a third dose increased vaccine effectiveness (prevention of hospitalization) among adults without (82% to 97%) and with immunocompromising conditions (69% to 88%), with near similar efficacy.

The ACIP

Physical Therapy is More Cost-Effective than Intraarticular Steroids in Knee OA

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A randomized trial compared the incremental cost-effectiveness of physical therapy and intra-articular glucocorticoid (IA GC) injection as initial treatment for knee osteoarthritis showed that physical therapy gained more quality-adjusted life-years compared with those receiving

Allopurinol Safety in CKD Patients

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A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients can be safely treated with allopurinol without an increased risk of mortality.

In this population-based data, neither allopurinol initiation, nor achieving target SU level with

FDA Approves Skyrizi for Active Psoriatic Arthritis

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On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved risankizumab-rzaa (Skyrizi) for the treatment of adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA), with similar dosing in plaque psoriasis - a single 150mg subcutaneous injection four times a year after two starter doses (at weeks 0

3rd Vaccine Dose May Benefit ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Patients

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ARD has publish a prospective, multicenter, observational study of vaccination outcomes in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies associated vasculitis (AAV) patients, showing that AAV patients may not be adequately protected after standard two-dose COVID-19 vaccination, but that a

Herpes Zoster Vaccination in Immunocompromised Adults

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The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently recommended and approved two doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV, AKA Shingrix) for prevention of herpes zoster and complications in immunodeficient or immunosuppressed adults aged ≥19 years.

Referral Rules for At-Risk Inflammatory Arthritis

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A prospective primary care study of patients at-risk for inflammatory arthritis (IA) showed that progression to IA was most likely in those with high anti-CCP antibody titers levels and involvement of the hands/feet/ IA. Interestingly, progression to IA was also seen in those who were

Weak Vaccine Responses in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Patients

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Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) did not mount durable antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant after the standard two-dose regimen of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine -- and for those taking rituximab (Rituxan) as maintenance therapy, even a third dose wasn't much help.

BE MOBILE 1 Study - Bimekizumab in Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis

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Today, UCB announced top-line interim analysis results from their Phase 3 "BE MOBILE 1" study, that demonstrated the efficacy of bimekizumab, a dual IL-17A and F inhibitor, in adults with active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA).

Does T2T Lead to Fewer Gout Flares?

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Lancet Rheumatology reports that a treat-to-target (T2T) goal of average serum urate less than 6 mg/dL is associated with an absence of gout flares and a reduction in the number of flares in the next 12 months.

While the 2017 American College of Physicians gout treatment guidelines

Fracture Risk with Osteoporosis Drug Holidays

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While bisphosphonate drug holidays are recommended, there are few comparative studies. Annals of Internal Medicine describes a propensity matched comparison study of risedronate and alendronate, showing that, compared to alendronate, risedronate drug holidays were associated with a small

Why Are Physicians Silent About Outrageous Drug Prices?

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This article was written by Dr. Milton Packer, who wonders why physicians are struggling to get their priorities straight.

The Overpricing of Drugs (1.14.2022)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com. This week we discuss amputations, a $57 billion RA market, an FDA approved drug for Cat arthritis and drug that works in Sjogren's.

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   Study 126 rheumatic disease (RMD) patients showed that

Hold Myophenolate or Not with COVID-19 Vaccination?

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While the American College of Rheumatology recommends holding mycophenolate (MMF) in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases patients (RMD) receiving COVID-19 vaccines, there is limited data on such an approach. A recent cohort study of RMD patients showed that holding MMF yielded higher antibody

COVAX Registry: Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines in Rheum Patients

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The EULAR Coronavirus Vaccine (COVAX) physician-reported registry has shown that the use of COVID-19 vaccines in people with inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (I-RMD) is effective, safe, and well tolerated.

Rheumatic and autoimmune patients were not

KEEPSaKe-1 Trial in Psoriatic Arthritis - IL-23 Inhibition is Effective

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The results of the KEEPSaKE-1 study in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has been published and shows that risankizumab (RIZ), an IL-23 inhibitor, showed significant clinical improvements when given to active PsA patients who failed or were intolerant to ≥1 csDMARD.

What Can JIA Patients Expect 18 Years In?

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Follow-up in a Scandinavian cohort of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients that began in 1997-2000 revealed a number of surprises, a new study indicated.

More than two-thirds of patients were using no drug therapies at year 18, even though only about half were in remission and

Biologic Treatment of Primary Sjogrens with Ianalumab

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Clinical trials generally fail in Sjögren's syndrome; but now a study shows that a biologic B cell inhibitor, ianalumab, met its primary endpoint with a dose-related decrease in disease activity (measured by ESSDAI) at week 24.

This was a phase II, dose-finding trial, aimed to assess

BEAT LUPUS - Belimumab after Rituximab in SLE

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A recent trial published in Annals of Internal Medicine analyzed the effects of B-cell depletion (rituximab) followed by B-cell suppression (belimumab) and showed effective lowering of anti-dsDNA titers and and fewer severe flare in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

COVID-19 in Pregnant Rheumatic Women

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The Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA) has studied the outcomes of women with rheumatic disease who were pregnant at the time of infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The GRA database of rheumatic patients also includes information about pregnancy; further obstetric

2021 Rheumatology Year in Review

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Our top 10 list of advances, game-changers, worries and those better medical practices that evolved during 2021.

Comorbidities Drive Risk of Severe Outcomes with COVID-19

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The current edition of the MMWR from the CDC shows that among those vaccinated against COVID-19, there is a low risk of severe outcomes (hospitalization and death); the highest risk is seen in those with multiple comorbidities.