In December, the FDA approved belimumab, the first drug approved to treat lupus nephritis, an historic action that was rapidly followed in January by the approval of a second treatment for lupus nephritis, voclosporin.

In December, the FDA approved belimumab, the first drug approved to treat lupus nephritis, an historic action that was rapidly followed in January by the approval of a second treatment for lupus nephritis, voclosporin.
Matthew J. Herrmann, MD, & Faizah Siddique, MD |
Rheumatologists are in the unique position of diagnosing and treating rare auto-inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often has textbook presentations, it is a heterogeneous condition with a wide variety of disease manifestations. In 2019, the European League Against Rheumatism and the ACR introduced new classification criteria to help diagnose this condition.1…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Sjögren’s syndrome requires care from several specialists, and presenters at the Sjögren’s Syndrome: Dental and Ocular Perspectives session shared diagnostic and treatment pearls from their respective specialties. Rebecca Manno, MD, MHS, of the Comprehensive Arthritis and Rheumatology Center of the U.S. Virgin Islands moderated the session. Oral Health Dry mouth is famously associated…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—With the inevitable decline in organ function that comes with age, and the likelihood that older patients (i.e., generally defined as older than 60 or 70, depending on the study) are on more than one medication due to multiple comorbidities, therapeutic drug treatment for older patients requires persistent vigilance and know-how, two experts…
Marilynn Larkin |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The German Society for Rheumatology (DGRh) has updated its guidelines to reflect the recent impact of the pandemic, noting among its key changes that immunosuppressive medications should not be changed solely for fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection.1 The update is based on evidence from scientific data from registries, cross-sectional studies, case reports and…
William J. Scheuing, MD, Nitasha Kumar, MD, William Davis, MD, & Robert Quinet, MD |
Hydralazine has been in use as a treatment for hypertension, most notably in heart failure patients, since 1951.1 The drug is a known cause of autoimmune disease, most specifically hydralazine-induced lupus. Hydralazine-induced lupus occurs in 7–13% of those taking the medication.2-4 It often presents with constitutional symptoms, arthritis/arthralgias, cutaneous lesions, seroÂsitis, myalgias and/or hepatomegaly. Features…
Emily Purcell, MD, Colin Ligon, MD, MHS, & Chris T. Derk, MD, MS |
Our patient was a 33-year-old, 5’2″ Asian woman with a past medical history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The diagnosis was based on serologies positive for anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs), as well as antibodies to Sm, RNP and SSA. Her illness included neuropsychiatric and cutaneous involvement. She also had a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. She presented…
Three FDA representatives discuss new drug indications, safety precautions and label changes, & an emergency program to rapidly evaluate existing immunomodulating therapies for use in COVID-19 patients.
The ACR Review Course featured eight talks providing a practical review of issues encountered by rheumatologists.
Samantha C. Shapiro, MD, with Karl Koenig, MD |
Through the development of a multidisciplinary musculoskeletal institute, we have created a model that facilitates coordination of care of complex patients between medical and surgical subspecialists, physical therapists, dieticians and social workers. A case is presented to demonstrate the improved care experience for both patients and providers and to share our learnings more broadly. The…