Articles By RheumNow
IL-1 Blockade: A Treatment at Last for Osteoarthritis?
By RheumNow
The interleukin (IL)-1β inhibitor canakinumab (Ilaris) showed promise for preventing the need for hip or knee replacement among patients with osteoarthritis in an exploratory analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial, investigators reported. Among patients enrolled in CANTOS, the pooled incidence rate for total hip replacement/total knee replacement was 0.31 events per 100 person-years for those receiving the monoclonal antibody every 3 months for up to 5 years compared with 0.54 per 100 for those given placebo, according to Paul M. Ridker, MD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues.
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For TNF Response in RA, Weight Matters
By RheumNow
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were obese were significantly less likely to remain on treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors -- but so were those who were underweight, a large, long-term study determined. Compared with patients with normal weight, patients in obesity class II, whose body mass index (BMI) was 35 to 39.9, had a hazard ratio for shorter drug survival (i.e., the drug's effectiveness, safety, and tolerability) of 1.28 (95% CI 1.06-1.54), while those in obesity class III, whose BMI exceeded 40, had a hazard ratio of 1.67 (95% CI 1.29-2.18), according to Sytske Anne Bergstra, PhD, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues.
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HCQ May Help Prevent Fetal Heart Block
By RheumNow
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) helped reduce recurrent maternal autoantibody-mediated congenital heart block (CHB) in fetuses, an open-label study suggested.
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JAK Inhibitor Succeeds as Monotherapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis
By RheumNow
The oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor upadacitinib (Rinvoq) given as monotherapy was more effective than methotrexate alone in methotrexate-naive patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a multinational phase III trial.
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ACR Outlines Best Practices for Kids With MIS-C
By RheumNow
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19 infection has both similarities and differences with Kawasaki disease, and requires distinct clinical management, according to draft guidance from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
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Adverse Events With Rheum Biologics Rise With Age
By RheumNow
Among patients with rheumatic diseases, age and female sex were important factors associated with the development of a first adverse event after initiating biologic treatment, Spanish researchers reported.
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Voclosporin Beats Standard of Care in Lupus Nephritis
By RheumNow
The high potency calcineurin inhibitor voclosporin plus standard of care was superior to standard of care alone in a phase III study of lupus nephritis known as AURORA.
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Atherosclerotic Events on the Decline in SLE
By RheumNow
The prevalence of atherosclerotic vascular events among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) today is considerably lower than in the past, analysis of multicenter data found. Among patients enrolled in an inception cohort from 1999 to 2017, only 3.6% of patients had an atherosclerotic vascular event, at a rate of 4.6 per 1,000 patient-years, according to Murray B. Urowitz, MD, of the University of Toronto in Canada, and colleagues.
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Methotrexate May Enhance Pegloticase Response in Gout
By RheumNow
For patients with gout exacerbations while on pegloticase (Krystexxa), adding methotrexate may help reduce uric acid levels, researchers suggested at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) virtual meeting. In a small open-label study of 14 patients experiencing acute gout attacks, use of the pegloticase/methotrexate combination reduced uric acid levels to near undetectable levels in 11 patients, reported John Botson, MD, medical director of Orthopedic Physicians Alaska in Anchorage. He noted that this was far below the 5 mg/dL level recognized as the threshold for development of inflammation that causes gout attacks.
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Noninflammatory Pain Persists in RA Despite Treatment
By RheumNow
Almost one-third of patients with new-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) reported persistent unacceptable pain after 21 months of combination therapy, according to a study by Swedish researchers.A total of 29% of patients continued to have unacceptable pain.
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