Articles By Jack Cush, MD
CV Risk Decreased with Certain DMARDs in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A large prospective cohort study examined the comparative risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and found that, methotrexate (MTX), abatacept (ABA) and TNF inhibitor (TNFi) use were associated with a decreased risk of CV events.
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Tocilizumab Augmented Efficacy in COVID-19 Pneumonia with High CRP
JAMA Internal Medicine report an analysis of recent and composite trial data suggesting that tocilizumab (TCZ) therapy in COVID-19–associated pneumonia patients with high CRP levels is likely to be effective.
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Factors Associated with COVID-19 Deaths in Rheumatic Patients
Analysis of data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance shows that rheumatic diseases infected with COVID-19 had a greater risk of death with age, comorbidities, high disease activity and few specific therapies.
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RheumNow Podcast – Myth Busters (5.21.2021)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Tocilizumab Risk of Diverticulitis and GI Perforation
A French registry analysis compared the risk of diverticulitis and gastrointestinal perforation (GIP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with biologics and found a greater risk of both in patients receiving tocilizumab (TCZ) compared with those on rituximab (RTX) or abatacept (ABA
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Total Ankle Arthroplasty vs. Arthodeisis?
The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery reports the findings of a 4-year trial comparing outcomes of total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) versus ankle arthrodesis (AA) in patients with severe ankle arthritis; finding that while both groups improved, TAA was associated with less pain and better function after 4 years.
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Checkpoint Inhibitor Safety in Melanoma Patients with Autoimmune Disease
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are well known to cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). A study from the Dutch Melanoma Treatment Registry shows that the use of checkpoint inhibitors for advanced melanoma in AID (autoimmune disease) patients did not increase the risk of irAEs, except for those with preexisting IBD.
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Severity Associated with Erosive Hand Osteoarthritis
Erosive hand osteoarthritis (EHOA) was studied as part of the Osteoarthritis Initiative, and shown to increase with advanced age and female sex, with developmental findings to suggest that EHOA as a disorder of skeletal frailty.
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Anifrolumab Reduces Lupus Flares
Anifrolumab has been studied in two large phase 3 trials in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients; pooled data from both the TULIP-1 and TULIP-2 trials were used to show that anifrolumab reduces flares in patients with moderate to severe SLE.
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IL-23 Inhibitor Tildrakizumab Effective in Psoriatic Arthritis
Tildrakizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-23p19 studied in adults with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), was found to be superior to placebo and well tolerated without reports of uveitis, systemic fungal infections, inflammatory bowel disease, major cardiac events or death.
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