In early June, the ACR released an updated guideline on the management of rheumatoid arthritis, which includes new recommendations for specific high-risk groups.1 The guideline includes 44 recommendations—seven of which are strong and 37 conditional. It underscores the role of methotrexate as a cornerstone therapy and emphasizes minimizing glucocorticoids, when possible. Guideline Development Process At…
Patients with autoimmune diseases, such as spondyloarthritis, are at risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease. Here are considerations for its management and treatment.
At the 2021 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Saira Sheikh, MD, associate professor of Medicine and director of the Rheumatology Lupus Clinic, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, provided an update on the past, present and future of the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This year, hydroxychloroquine received a great deal of attention, given early…
In spring 2020, as it became obvious that COVID-19 wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, the leaders of the Rheumatology Research Foundation implemented an expedited process to distribute research funding beyond its typical awards program. This resulted in the Foundation awarding $1.65 million to fund five research studies that will look at the relationships between rheumatic…
(Reuters Health)—Many pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may achieve low disease activity in the third trimester with a modern treatment regimen that includes anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) medications, a recent study suggests. Researchers examined data on 309 patients with RA who were pregnant or trying to conceive and who were treated with modern treat-to-target…
In September 2020, the ACR received a $7 million grant for a four-pronged SLE approach that seeks to address gaps and inequities in SLE through physician education, medical school outreach, pediatric support and disease management.
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has a higher life impact on women than men, suggesting the need to include life impact as part of the treat-to-target strategy for PsA. This is the finding of a recently published study by Orbai et al., which found female sex independently linked to high PsA life impact.1 The Study The study…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—This has been a busy year for research publications covering a number of pediatric rheumatic diseases, including the emerging multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) associated with SARS CoV-2. Despite the many challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, a healthy collection of publications covering a wide range of pediatric rheumatology research topics were published…