Renal arteriosclerosis is common in lupus patients with nephritis and occurs two decades earlier than it does in people without lupus nephritis (LN), report investigators in a study that examined the prevalence of renal arteriosclerosis in LN patients compared with healthy controls.1Â The finding suggests that renal arteriosclerosis could be used as a biomarker for…
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…
Scleroderma renal crisis is a true medical emergency in rheumatology, one that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. Here, we review the historic introduction of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in this context, and highlight management and key questions moving forward. Background Awareness of renal disease in scleroderma dates back many years. The revered physician William Osler…
Camelot allegedly existed once upon a time in South Wales. The name was evoked again in the 1960s, but perhaps it is also applicable to the character of rheumaÂtology in the halcyon days of the 1970s and 80s. That’s not to belittle the world we now live in, with so many treatment options for our…
Ethan Craig was not pleased. As a reader of this column, you know that Dr. Craig is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate editor of The Rheumatologist. On this particular morning, however, he was the father of a 5-year-old who woke up…
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…
Sapart et al. suggest a combination of methotrexate and biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs as induction therapy for patients with early RA may lead to long-term remission.
In a post-marketing safety study, tofacitinib did not prove non-inferior to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors when evaluated for its long-term effects on heart disease, malignancies and serious infections in RA patients.
In January, upadacitinib was approved for use in Europe as a 15 mg, once-daily dose to treat patients with psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.
The FDA has approved anakinra to treat a rare autoinflammatory disease, deficiency of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist. The administration also approved a new rituximab biosimilar, Riabni, for multiple indications.