The large vessel vasculitides were a major focus of the 21st International Vasculitis Workshop held in Barcelona in April. The biennial conference brings together specialists from multiple disciplines, including rheumatology, nephrology and immunology, to discuss cutting-edge vasculitis research. This article reviews important points regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of both giant cell arteritis and…
Most Sunday mornings, I make myself an exceptional cup of pour-over coffee and sit down on my deck with the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. I check out the image of the week. I read the case report with pen in hand, racing to diagnose the patient before the authors spill…
Methotrexate—an affordable, established drug for rheumatoid arthritis—may also be helpful for patients suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand, a recent study reports.1 Treatment of hand OA and inflammation with 20 mg of methotrexate for six months had a moderate, but potentially clinically meaningful, effect on reducing pain and stiffness in patients with symptomatic hand…
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is treatable, and for that, we should be grateful. But wouldn’t it be better if we could prevent it from even happening? Recent data from a study in China demonstrated some interesting results. Could an older type of diabetes medication be the answer we’ve been looking for? Background Preclinical studies have suggested…
Frailty & Prefrailty in Patients with RA TNF-α inhibitors associated with higher infection risk By Namrata Singh, MD, MSCI, Katherine D. Wysham, MD, James S. Andrews, MD, & Una E. Makris, MD Why was this study done? Frailty and prefrailty are more common and occur at a younger age in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…
About 30 years ago, early in his career as a rheumatologist, Dirkjan van Schaardenburg, PhD, says patients with osteoarthritis experienced terrible problems with inflammation. The landscape has improved to the point that “people can live with it now,” he says. But they still need help. For example, osteoarthritis affects 7% of the global population, according…
Current knowledge of receptor-ligand interactions, cell signaling, and transcriptional regulation derive from studies of type I interferon. The design of novel therapeutics is informed by the advances in investigation of type I interferon, with the potential for important impacts on patient management.
A Shift in Prescribing Patterns Safety issues prompt discontinuation of tofacitinib By Stephanie Song, MD, & Joshua F. Baker, MD, MSCE Why was this study done? The ORAL Surveillance study highlighted risks of cardiac events, thromboembolism (VTE) and malignancy associated with use of Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi). We sought to determine the impact of safety…
The ACR journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology has introduced a new educational series, with the complement system first in focus. “This isn’t simplified immunology for trainees,” says Dr. Bucala. “It’s for everyone.”
RheumMadness is an online tournament in which a bracket of teams, representing key learning concepts in rheumatology, compete against each other in a series of head-to-head matchups, much like basketball teams in the NCAA’s March Madness. The 2023 tournament theme was The All Star Season. Each team represented one all star article competing to be…