Articles By Richard Conway, MBBChBAO, PhD
Vasculitis
Sunday’s vasculitis session at RNL26 was a fantastic update on inflamed blood vessels, large and small, by two experts in the field: rheumatologist Dr. Mike Putman and dermatopathologist Dr. Clay Cockerell.
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Advances in RA-ILD
Dr. Jeffrey Sparks gave a state of the art update on Advances in RA-ILD, many of which he and his group have played a big part in, on Saturday at RNL26.
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Are we putting the CAR-T before the horse?
CAR T-cells have been a revolutionary development in rheumatology. We have seen a population of patients with severe refractory autoimmune conditions almost overnight presented with the prospect of not just improvement, but of a cure.
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Should we be using JAKi more in female SpA patients?
In recent years, data has emerged suggesting that female patients with spondyloarthritis, both psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis, may have worse outcomes than male patients. A number of post-hoc analyses of randomised controlled trials of both TNF inhibitors and IL-17 inhibitors suggest that this phenomenon is also manifested in the responses to these agents; female patients do less well than male patients. The mechanisms behind this remain to be fully elucidated.
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Combined Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis Interstitial Lung Disease
Rheumatoid arthritis interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) represents a major therapeutic evidence void in our current treatment paradigm. RA-ILD is common, with clinically significant disease seen in 8% of patients. In the past RA-ILD was frequently under-diagnosed, leading to identification of a disproportionate volume of severe cases and subsequently inflating the mortality statistics. However, RA-ILD, particularly in the progressive pulmonary fibrosis phenotype, retains a poor prognosis. I would propose a new framework for RA-ILD treatment.
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ICYMI: EGPA in 2025
Formerly classified as an ANCA-associated vasculitis, EGPA is both most commonly ANCA negative and clinically different to the other two ANCA-associated vasculitis conditions, GPA and MPA. The management of EGPA has frequently fallen into the trap of being copied from its more common and well-known cousins. Now, however, we are seeing a discordance and following GPA/MPA management will potentially lead to both over-treatment and suboptimal treatment for EGPA. In this context, the Sunday morning session at RNL 2025 on “EGPA management in 2025 and beyond” by Dr. Michael Wechsler was both timely and clinically relevant.
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EGPA in 2025
Formerly classified as an ANCA-associated vasculitis, EGPA is both most commonly ANCA negative and clinically different to the other two ANCA-associated vasculitis conditions, GPA and MPA. The management of EGPA has frequently fallen into the trap of being copied from its more common and well-known cousins. Now, however, we are seeing a discordance and following GPA/MPA management will potentially lead to both over-treatment and suboptimal treatment for EGPA. In this context, the Sunday morning session at RNL 2025 on “EGPA management in 2025 and beyond” by Dr. Michael Wechsler was both timely and clinically relevant.
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“Preventing” Arthritis in Psoriasis
The always compelling Dr. Alexis Ogdie explored whether aggressive treatment of psoriasis can prevent psoriatic arthritis in an excellent Saturday morning session at RheumNow Live 2025.
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Best of 2024: Vasculitis Pearls
Once again RheumNow Live 2024 really delivered with high impact learning packed into short sessions. As someone with an interest in vasculitis it was fantastic to see four of my favorite speakers in the Vasculitis Mavens and STEP talks. They gave us what we really want from these talks – personal opinions and approaches that go beyond the guidelines. They really dropped a selection of pearls on us and I wanted to share a few of these with you.
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Methotrexate to Prevent RA, Clear as Mud
Intervention in individuals predisposed to develop RA, with a holy grail of prevention of RA, has long been a hot topic. The 4-year results of the TREAT EARLIER study, presented at Tuesday’s oral abstract session, show that methotrexate appears to prevent the development of RA in high risk ACPA- patients.
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