Sharon A. Chung, MD, MAS, director of the vasculitis clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, served as the principal investigator of the overall vasculitis guideline effort and talks about the process here.

Subcategories:Axial SpondyloarthritisClinical Criteria/GuidelinesGout and Crystalline ArthritisMyositisOsteoarthritis and Bone DisordersOther Rheumatic ConditionsPain SyndromesPediatric ConditionsPsoriatic ArthritisRheumatoid ArthritisSjögren’s DiseaseSoft Tissue PainSystemic Lupus ErythematosusSystemic SclerosisVasculitis

Michael Putman, MD |
Sharon A. Chung, MD, MAS, director of the vasculitis clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, served as the principal investigator of the overall vasculitis guideline effort and talks about the process here.
Reuters Staff |
(Reuters)—The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is testing a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines in people with autoimmune diseases who have not responded well to the primary vaccine course. The mid-stage study will be conducted among about 600 participants aged 18 and above who have been fully vaccinated with shots from either Pfizer Inc.,…

Research has shown voclosporin in combination with MMF and low-dose steroids benefits patients with lupus nephritis, significantly increasing the speed of remission. New data from an ongoing extension study demonstrate a positive risk/benefit profile.
Brandon May |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A significant proportion of children with rheumatic diseases develop new-onset hypogammaglobulinemia and infections following treatment with the monoclonal antibody rituximab, according to new U.S. research. “Increased risk appeared to be mediated, at least in part, by exposure to pulse dose corticosteroids,” write Marc Natter, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s…

One of the oldest treatment options in rheumatology, colchicine, may be an effective and inexpensive treatment to prevent complications in non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19, particularly in men, according to the results of large global study.

In July, the FDA approved the use of Octagam 10%, an intravenous immunoglobulin solution, to treat dermatomyositis in adults after an international study demonstrated the treatment’s safety and efficacy.

Abhimanyu Amarnani, MD, PhD, Nicole K. Zagelbaum Ward, DO, MPH, Lauren Mathias, MD, Nathan Lim, MD, Baljeet Rai, MD, Sky Wang, MD, & William Stohl, MD, PhD |
Pulmonary manifestations in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) include pleuritis, acute pneumonitis, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension, shrinking lung syndrome and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH). DAH is a rare, but devastating, complication of SLE, with high mortality rates. The incidence of DAH in SLE ranges from 0.6% to 5.4%, but the mortality rate…

With a large percentage of the U.S. population unsure whether they will get vaccinated against COVID-19, rheumatology patients remain vulnerable. On May 13, the ACR hosted a virtual town hall highlighting ways rheumatology providers might effectively approach their patients who have not yet decided to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Get the Slow Yes At the…

On May 6, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Arthritis Advisory Committee narrowly voted in support of avacopan, a C5a receptor inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis. Although the panelists were excited about the possibility of a steroid-sparing therapy, some raised questions about whether results from…

Ibrahem Salloum, MD, & Deepan S. Dalal, MD, MPH |
Discovered more than 3,000 years ago, colchicine is one of the oldest drugs still in use today. Like most old remedies, colchicine is a chemical substance found in many plants, most notably in colchicum autumnale, known as wild saffron or autumn crocus. It was mentioned in the oldest Egyptian medical text, Ebers Papyrus (circa 1550…