Clinically amyotrophic dermatomyositis (CADM), a subset of dermatomyositis (DM), is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by typical DM cutaneous findings (e.g., heliotrope rash, Gottron papules, Gottron sign) without evidence of myositis.1 The incidence of DM and CADM is approximately 9.63 per 1 million people and 2.08 per 1 million people, respectively.2 The association with development…
ATLANTA—At the ACR/ARP 2019 Annual Meeting, several widely renowned experts across an array of specialty subjects provided a comprehensive and compelling review of advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of a number of rheumatologic conditions. Sjögren’s Syndrome Frederick Vivino, MD, FACR, chief of rheumatology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and professor of clinical medicine…
ATLANTA—New drug approvals, new and expanded drug indications, and important safety and other updates relevant for rheumatologists were presented by three physicians from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Nov. 11 at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. New JAK Inhibitor Approved for RA On Aug. 16, 2019, the FDA approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq), an…
GCA, GPA, myositis, new research—rheumatology care keeps clinicians on their toes & requires them to stay up to date…
Last year, the FDA was busy with new biologic and other drug approvals, new and expanded drug indications, and important safety updates relevant to rheumatology…
A 59-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presented to our pulmonary clinic for progressively worsening dyspnea of five years’ duration. She described progressively worsening dyspnea after a few minutes of walking on level ground. In addition, she noted worsening pain and morning stiffness of the wrists, knees and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, with subcutaneous nodules. She…
A study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology highlights how the presence of autoantibodies to peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) may eventually be used to influence treatment decisions in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), sharpening our understanding of disease subtypes.1 Although follow-up prospective studies are needed, these findings underline some intriguing areas for future investigations in immunobiology….
The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) encompass eight categories: 1) dermatomyositis (DM) in adults, 2) juvenile dermatomyositis, 3) amyopathic DM, 4) cancer-associated DM, 5) polymyositis, 6) immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, 7) inclusion body myositis, and 8) overlap myositis.1 These categories help classify the myopathies based on clinical and histologic features. The incidence of IIM is estimated at…
Based on a request by the ACR Insurance Subcommittee, off-label use of mycophenolate for scleroderma has been added to a Medicare-approved compendium.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved nintedanib for systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) on Sept. 6 after a randomized, controlled trial (SENSCIS) demonstrated significant benefit against placebo.1 At a cost of $96,000 per year, treatment reduced the adjusted annual rate of change in forced vital capacity (FVC) from –93.3 mL in…