CHICAGO—Keith Winthrop, MD, MPH, professor of public health and preventive medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, Portland, Ore., began the vaccination session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting with a review of vaccination timing and targets. He presented a clinically relevant snapshot of the vaccines rheumatologists should consider and emphasized…
CHICAGO—Because the epigenome has been implicated in a variety of rheumatic conditions, a Basic Research Conference was convened on Epigenetics in Immune-Mediated Disease in conjunction with the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Melanie Ehrlich, PhD, professor of human genetics and genomics at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, opened the conference. She has a long…
CHICAGO—Held during the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, the ACR Review Course covered a wide range of topics for rheumatologists—from advances in pain and rheumatic disease management to the intersection of rheumatology and neurology. Session speakers shared insights, as well as state-of-the-art approaches to diagnosis, management and treatment. Inflammatory Myopathies Julie J. Paik, MD, MHS, assistant…
It’s no secret to any health professional, including rheumatologists, that smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco-based products is unhealthy. Yet how does smoking specifically affect rheumatic diseases, and what are some of the newest findings in this area? What role do e-cigarettes have in the smoking risk landscape? Those are the sorts of questions asked…
CHICAGO—Although rare, when a patient has both primary immune deficiency and autoimmune disease, the combination can lead to life-threatening complications requiring careful, long-term therapy. In When Immune Deficiency and Autoimmunity Coexist, a session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, M. Eric Gershwin, MD, the Jack and Donald Chia professor of Medicine and chief of Rheumatology,…
In a recent study, ixekizumab proved safe and effective in treating adults with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and plaque psoriasis compared with adalimumab…
Limited data are available on liver enzyme elevation in patients with RA, PsA and psoriasis being treated with tofacitinib and methotrexate. But early study findings are shedding light on the nature and risks of liver enzyme levels in these patients…
CHICAGO—Bimekizumab is an investigational interleukin (IL) 17A and IL-17 neutralizing agent being studied to modulate inflammation in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. During the late-breaking abstract session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, researchers reported on the results of a 48-week, Phase 2b, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of bimekizumab in patients with active psoriatic…
Genes may predispose people to have certain microbial signatures in their gut that, in turn, make them susceptible to developing reactive arthritis. This is the main finding of a recent study in which researchers investigated whether perturbations in the intestinal microbiome play a role in susceptibility to reactive arthritis in the face of triggers, such…
ACR guidelines include recommendations for the management of patients with particular conditions or diseases. Guidelines are developed using a systematic process and are based on available evidence and the clinical experience and expertise of rheumatologists and other interested stakeholders. In the January issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology, Arthritis Care & Research and the Journal of…