Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Post-Approval Exploratory Trials with Pregabalin Often Fail
A systematic review of 238 pregabalin (Lyrica) trials for nonapproved indications shows that nearly two-thirds yielded uncertain evidence of efficacy, thereby questioning the off-label use or endorsement in clinical practice guidelines.
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FDA Approves Biosimilar Rituximab for NHL, not RA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Celltrion biosimilar of rituximab called Truxima; previously called CT-P10, now generically labeled as rituximab-abbs. This is the first biosimilar to the Rituxan currently approved to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Truxima is not approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, pemphigus vulgaris or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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Hepatic Safety of Urate Lowering Therapies in Gout
Lee and a group of Korean investigators have analyzed the comparative safety of allopurinol and febuxostat in a small cohort of gout patients with fatty liver disease (FLD) and found febuxostat had a lower risk for hepatotoxicity (defined as AST or ALT at least 3× the upper limit of normal)
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Diagnosing Early Lupus from Mimics
A multicenter study of early systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients examined manifestations at disease onset and found that certain clinical features can help to distinguish early SLE from other SLE‐mimicking conditions.
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Trazodone High Risk of Falls and Fractures
The CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) has reported that trazadone use in the elderly may be associated with a risk of falls and major fractures.
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Advice for Young Rheumatologists
You may not want my advice, but I’m going to give it to you anyway.
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Steroid Injection Superior to Splinting in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Lancet has published a comparative effectiveness study examining the the value of night splints (conservative treatment) vs local injection for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
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Low Risk of Serious Complications with Meniscectomy
Lancet reports on the safety of over 1 million arthroscopic partial meniscectomies done in the United Kingdom and found a low overall risk in the first 90 days. They examined Hospital Episode Statistics on 1,088,782 arthroscopic partial meniscectomies (1997-2017); 699 965 of which were eligible for analysis. They sought to identify complications occurring in the 90 days after the index procedure.
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Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
The data are clear and disappointing: despite the well-known health benefits, four out of five US adults are not active physically. JAMA has published the new US Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, so that health professionals and policy makers can promote lifestyle changes and awar
Read ArticleAURA-LV Trial - Voclosporin Effective in Lupus Nephritis
The AURA-LV trial assessed voclosporin, a calcineurin inhibitor in patients with active lupus nephritis (LN) and found that low-dose voclosporin may be successfully added to mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids to controll active LN.
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