A phase 3 trial described in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlights the potential of a C5a receptor inhibitor, avacopan, for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis.1 Avacopan may potentially offer a steroid-sparing option for the treatment of this serious disease. Current Treatment of ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Morbidity and mortality from ANCA-associated vasculitis have…
(Reuters Health)—Total knee replacement surgery can be a cost-effective procedure for patients with severe obesity and osteoarthritis (OA), even when they also have comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers did a cost-benefit analysis for two patient populations (over 65 years, and age 50 to 65) who had…
Experts discuss the diagnosis and treatment of myositis-related cardiovascular disease.
Rheumatology has arguably benefited like no other field from the proliferation of an increasingly effective pipeline of therapeutics. These medications have dramatically raised the bar for clinical outcomes for our patients in a way that we could not have envisioned a short generation ago. With such therapeutic progress now reaching a widening circle of rheumatic…
Interventions targeted at mitigating the risk of preeclampsia may reduce preterm birth and cesarean delivery in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and psoriasis. That’s one key finding of a retrospective study published in Arthritis Care & Research.1 The study set out to quantify the mediated effects of autoimmune conditions on adverse…
In light of the release of the ACR’s new gout guideline, it’s not surprising that 50 abstracts of studies on various aspects of gout were accepted at ACR Convergence 2020. Here, we highlight just a few:
A recent paper in Arthritis & Rheumatology opens up the possibility of a new research avenue to treat systemic sclerosis: dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitors, a previously approved therapy for type 2 diabetes.1 Work in mouse models and on skin samples from systemic sclerosis patients suggests these drugs pose a promising area of future translational…
Although systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS), past research has primarily focused on how lupus affects the CNS. Now, an international, inception cohort study, “Peripheral Nervous System Disease in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus,” published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, has examined different types of PNS disease to…
ACR Convergence 2020—At two plenary sessions, speakers highlighted key findings, including results on the QTc interval in patients on hydroxychloroquine, and data from a study on denosumab vs. alendronate for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. The QTc Interval & Hydroxychloroquine The safety profile and optimal dosing of hydroxychloroquine has been a topic for decades because it is known…
Acute gout can be very painful, causing patients to seek treatment in the emergency department. A retrospective study of pain interventions for gout in Rhode Island found that nearly 30% of patients received prescriptions for opioid medications over 30 months. Of these prescriptions, over 80% were for patients who had never been exposed to opioids…