A minority of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) who were new to rheumatology practice were prescribed steroid-sparing agents through two years of follow-up. This is according to a large, U.S.-based cohort study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, which also found that nearly two-thirds of the patients remained on glucocorticoids beyond one year.1 “Our study…
At ACR Convergence 2023, experts addressed important topics in gout research, including treating and preventing gout flares, lowering urate levels and managing comorbidities, as well as racial inequities in gout treatment, disease burden and outcomes.
I was cleaning out an old storage closet in my parents’ house in Florida when I stumbled across some notes I took in medical school. As I leafed through pages and pages of notes filled with doodles and reminders, I found a statement that gave me pause: “Immunology—what is it good for?!” To be honest,…
Disparities, representativeness, algorithmic bias, the disruptive emergence of large language models and continued misinformation spread are key issues poised to transform patient care in American healthcare, FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, MD, said during a recent event.
The FDA has approved upadacitinib for the treatment of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) based on a short-term study that demonstrated improved pain, function and other symptoms of nr-axSpA in patients with active disease.
Using data from cohorts with detailed lifestyle data and lengthy follow-up, Hahn et al. demonstrated that healthy lifestyle behaviors are associated with a lower risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), concluding that a substantial proportion of RA may be preventable.
When it comes to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and cardiovascular events (CVEs), the rheumatology community is woefully lacking in information, say researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) David Geffen School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Their recent work on biomarkers associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events in women with…
A soon-to-be published guideline from the ACR and the Vasculitis Foundation on Kawasaki disease underscores the importance of early diagnosis and intensified treatment for people with this serious condition.1 Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) remains the treatment mainstay, and prompt, aggressive treatment may be able to reduce the risk of serious complications in some patients. The guideline…
The new rheumatology-specific Merit-Based Incentive Payment System Value Pathway will focus on measures that most rheumatologists already track. The model should streamline reporting and better target quality improvements.
The MIPS Value Pathways will streamline federal reporting to better incentivize quality improvement. Start preparing for MVP with this session at ACR Convergence 2021.