EULAR 2020 e-CONGRESS—In what speakers at the European e-Congress of Rheumatology described as the first treat-to-target and tight control (T2T/TC) strategy trial in axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), researchers found such a strategy has both health and financial benefits. In the year-long study—called TICOSPA—centers were randomized to apply either a T2T/TC strategy or care left to the…
During the 2020 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Zoltán Szekanecz, MD, PhD, addressed the risks of vascular disease and how to manage them in patients with rheumatic diseases.
Rheumatologists should not be falsely reassured by a normal mean blood pressure in lupus patients, according to a study from Johns Hopkins University that found age-related blood pressure patterns in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) differ from the general population and that increased diastolic blood pressure variability (BPV) is highly associated with cardiovascular events in SLE.1…
Given how unexpectedly front and center hydroxychloroquine has been in discussions about the treatment of COVID-19 this year, it makes sense to look at how it became so central to the treatment of a rheumatologic condition. In 1991, an article appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine that would alter the way rheumatologists approached…
Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) may benefit from targeted stroke screening or prevention therapies. A recent study revealed SSc may be independently associated with stroke, finding the risk of stroke was 20–30% higher in SSc patients than healthy controls…
A recent study is the first to examine pragmatic language skills in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), finding that approximately half of SLE patients have pragmatic language dysfunction…
ATLANTA—Every year at its Annual Meeting, the ACR recognizes its members’ outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology through an awards program. The ACR is proud to announce 20 award recipients for 2019, honored for their accomplishments as clinicians, instructors or researchers who have helped advance rheumatology, for their commitment to inspire others to enter…
Three clinical experts on gout offer their insights into common management errors, clinical pearls, new safety data from the FDA and the role of biologic therapies in the management of gout.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Mortality rates in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) decreased from 1999 to 2017, according to records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “The mortality attributed to several rare diseases [e.g., hypersensitivity pneumonitis] has increased in recent years,” Alexander W. Steinberg, MD, from Saint Joseph Hospital, Denver, tells…
Are outcomes better in a specialized lupus clinic compared with care provided in a general rheumatology setting? New research from Rush University, Chicago, studies this important care management question and finds the specialized clinic does indeed produce better outcomes.1 A big part of the difference may be due to the added experience specialty clinic clinicians…