Mannion et al. set out to describe the adult rheumatology workforce in the U.S. by measuring the number of rheumatologists and advanced practice providers entering and exiting the field and studying their demographics.
Methotrexate Shows Promise for Hand Arthritis
Methotrexate—an affordable, established drug for rheumatoid arthritis—may also be helpful for patients suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand, a recent study reports.1 Treatment of hand OA and inflammation with 20 mg of methotrexate for six months had a moderate, but potentially clinically meaningful, effect on reducing pain and stiffness in patients with symptomatic hand…
Calprotectin Shows Promise as APS Thrombocytopenia Biomarker
Hoy et al. sought to evaluate the presence, clinical associations, and potential mechanistic roles of circulating calprotectin in a cohort of patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and those with antiphospholipid antibodies. Calprotectin levels were higher in patients with primary APS and those with antiphospholipid antibodies than in healthy controls. These data suggest that calprotectin has the potential to be a functional biomarker and a new therapeutic target for APS-related thrombocytopenia.
The Prospect of Rheumatoid Arthritis Prevention
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is treatable, and for that, we should be grateful. But wouldn’t it be better if we could prevent it from even happening? Recent data from a study in China demonstrated some interesting results. Could an older type of diabetes medication be the answer we’ve been looking for? Background Preclinical studies have suggested…
3 AC&R Study Summaries: Frailty & Prefrailty in RA, Premature Mortality in Gout & Using Recruitment & Multidisciplinary Care Incentives to Improve Access
Frailty & Prefrailty in Patients with RA TNF-α inhibitors associated with higher infection risk By Namrata Singh, MD, MSCI, Katherine D. Wysham, MD, James S. Andrews, MD, & Una E. Makris, MD Why was this study done? Frailty and prefrailty are more common and occur at a younger age in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…
Can an App Reduce the Need for In-Person Visits?
Solomon et al. examined whether a mobile application (app) for patients with rheumatoid arthritis integrated in the electronic health record would be used by patients and rheumatologists.
Poly-Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Uncommon Subset of a Difficult-to-Treat Disease
Difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is defined as the failure of two or more classes of biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to control active or progressive disease in patients with RA. Between 5 and 20% of patients with RA have difficult-to-treat RA.
Study Assesses Sarilumab for Polymyalgia Rheumatica
In an ACR Convergence 2022 session, Robert Spiera, MD, director of the Scleroderma, Vasculitis, and Myositis Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, discussed the use of sarilumab as a potential glucocorticoid-sparing therapy in a phase 3 study in patients with treatment-refractory polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), one of the most common inflammatory diseases…
FDA Approves Sarilumab for Adults with Glucocorticoid-Resistant Polymyalgia Rheumatica
On Feb. 28, 2023, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved sarilumab (Kevzara) for the treatment of adults with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) for whom glucocorticoids have proved inadequate or who cannot tolerate a glucocorticoid taper.1,2 Sarilumab is an interleukin (IL) 6 receptor antagonist. In May 2017, the FDA initially approved the agent for the…
How to Treat Refractory Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) who had relapsed while tapering glucocorticoid therapy were more likely to achieve sustained remission at one year and have a lower glucocorticoid exposure if they were treated with sarilumab (Kevzara) plus a rapid, 14-week glucocorticoid taper than if they received placebo plus a standard, 52-week glucocorticoid taper. This is according…