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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

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Subcategories:Axial SpondyloarthritisClinical Criteria/GuidelinesGout and Crystalline ArthritisMyositisOsteoarthritis and Bone DisordersOther Rheumatic ConditionsPain SyndromesPediatric ConditionsPsoriatic ArthritisRheumatoid ArthritisSjögren’s DiseaseSoft Tissue PainSystemic Lupus ErythematosusSystemic SclerosisVasculitis

Reassuring Data on Cancer Risk with Contemporary RA Drugs

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A large Swedish study1 provides reassuring data on the risk of cancer in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors or with tocilizumab, abatacept or rituximab. Overall, the risk of malignant neoplasms did not differ between patients treated with a first anti-TNF drug; a second anti-TNF drug; tocilizumab,…

Poor Sleep Associated with Higher Risk of Chronic Pain

Carolyn Crist  |  

(Reuters Health)—People who sleep poorly may be more likely to develop a chronic pain condition and have worse physical health, a study from the U.K. suggests. A general decline in both the quantity and quality of hours slept led to a two- to three-fold increase in pain problems over time, researchers found. “Sleep and pain…

TNF Inhibitor Drug Tapering Successful in Some Patients with RA

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MADRID—Scores on the Health Assessment Questionnaire for Rheumatoid Arthritis (HAQ) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were independent predictors of whether patients could be tapered successfully from a TNF inhibitor after having reached remission of their RA, according to findings presented in a session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology. Researchers also developed a composite…

Whole-Body MRI, Ultrasound Imaging May Aid in Early Rheumatic Disease Diagnosis, Treatment

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MADRID—Researchers say that whole-body MRI could yield an earlier diagnosis of spondyloarthropathy (SpA) in patients with early inflammatory joint symptoms, according to findings presented in a poster session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR). The approach could lead to earlier treatment and better outcomes, they say. Investigators at the University of Leeds recruited…

Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments Show Mixed Results

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MADRID—The anti-IL6 “nanobody,” vobarilizumab, produced mixed results when used with methotrexate (MTX) and compared with MTX and placebo, according to results of a 24-week, double-blind Phase 2b study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which were presented in an abstract session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR). The drug missed its primary endpoint…

Effectiveness of Tofacitinib with Methotrexate, Adalimumab Therapy Evaluated in Patients with RA

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MADRID—Tofacitinib (a JAK inhibitor) used with methotrexate (MTX) is not inferior to adalimumab (a TNF inhibitor) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who’ve had an inadequate response to MTX alone, according to results of a Phase 3B/4 trial presented in a session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR). The findings came in a one-year…

Treat-to-Target Strategy Evaluated for Fibromyalgia Care

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Treat-to-target is a widely used approach for rheumatoid arthritis, in which rheumatologists prescribe treatments to reach established benchmarks of disease activity.1 Is it time for a similar approach for fibro­myalgia treatment, even though its pathogenesis, disease-activity measures and treatment algorithms are less well understood? Three fibromyalgia researchers present their case in a new paper, “Treat-to-Target…

A CT scan of the chest showing multifocal ground-glass opacities, representative of hemorrhage, with numerous nodular interstitial opacities primarily within a peribronchovascular distribution.

Hemoptysis in a Young Indian Male

Payam Pourhassani, DO, MSc, Sneha Patel, MD, & Arundathi Jayatilleke, MD  |  

A 22-year-old Indian male presented to the emergency department with hemoptysis. A month prior, he had presented to an urgent care center complaining of cough with occasional episodes of blood-tinged sputum in the morning. He was diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia based on a chest X-ray without laboratory testing and was prescribed levofloxacin. A few days…

Fellows’ Forum Case Report: Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy and RA

Eugene Jalbert, DO, MBA, Priyanka Murali, DO, Rakhee Shah, DO, Robert DiGiovanni, DO, FACOI, FACR, & Rubaiya Mallay, DO, FACOI, FACR  |  

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease associated with erosive destruction of diarthrodial joints. Patients who are seropositive are more prone to developing extra-articular manifestations, such as rheumatoid lung, rheumatoid nodules and others. With the development of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), the incidence and severity of these extra-articular manifestations has declined. Below, we describe…