AMSTERDAM—Molecular signatures in synovial tissue that can be gathered through biopsies are a largely untapped resource that could help guide treatment for rheumatic conditions, an expert said at the EULAR: Annual European Congress of Rheumatology. “I’m convinced that looking into synovial tissue provides us with tools to not only understand mechanisms of disease in rheumatoid…
Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune clotting disorder that may present catastrophically with multiple thromboses over a short period of time. In this article, we examine the case of a woman with undiagnosed APS whose first symptoms presented during a long-haul flight. A review of the literature on thrombosis at high altitudes and during long…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A 13-transcript whole-blood gene expression signature accurately differentiates Kawasaki disease (KD) from other febrile conditions in children, researchers report. “We believe it is feasible to turn the signature into a diagnostic test,” Dr. Michael Levin from Imperial College London, London, tells Reuters Health by email. “There are a range of methods to…
CHICAGO—As Eric Ruderman, MD, professor of medicine in rheumatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, began his talk on psoriatic arthritis treatment at the ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April, he marveled a bit at how much there was to cover. Drugs gaining prominence in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and dermatological…
Immunoglobin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare fibro-inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that has been recently recognized. It can cause fibro-inflammatory masses in almost every organ of the body and is associated with dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of IgG4-postitive plasma cells, storiform fibrosis and elevated levels of serum IgG4.1 IgG4-RD is a systemic disease that may…
In Japan the use of guselkumab to treat erythrodermic, plaque and pustular psoriasis is approved, and anakinra is now indicated for Still’s disease in the E.U…
Two Phase 3 clinical trials show that risankizumab is effective for achieving skin clearance in patients with psoriasis…
SAN DIEGO—Since the identification of the autoinflammatory disease, familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), researchers have identified an alphabet soup of other autoinflammatory diseases with genetic underpinnings, from PAPA (pyogenic arthritis with pyoderma gangrenosum and acne) to NIAID (NLRP1-associated autoinflammation with arthritis and dyskeratosis) to TRAPS (TNF receptor-associated periodic syndrome). The torrent of discoveries, brought about largely…
SAN DIEGO—Treatments do exist that can improve the prospects of a patient with the rare disease amyloidosis, but only if clinicians keep the disease in mind and treat the patient before it’s too late, an expert said at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting this past November. He also discussed research that may be close to…
In clinical trials, secukinumab proved safe and effective as a long-term treatment for both palmoplantar and nail psoriasis…