Research has shown that anticonvulsants are teratogens and pose a risk for fetal malformations. Meadow was the first to note a possible link between congenital abnormalities and maternal use of anticonvulsive drug in 1968.1 In 1974, Barr et al noted hypoplasia and irregular ossification of the digital distal phalanges with nail dystrophy in children born to…
To correctly address a problem, one must have a handle on its nuances—a clear understanding of what is linked and how. And thus far, when it comes to lupus, we haven’t reached the point of understanding those intricacies. Things are heading in the right direction, however, with two new studies that get us much closer…
MADRID—Researchers have found that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is independently linked with bipolar disorder and say the findings point to a need for greater awareness of psychiatric problems in patients with SLE. In work led by investigators at Tel Aviv University in Israel and presented at the 2017 Annual European Congress on Rheumatology (EULAR), researchers…
Osteoporosis Screening The aphorism, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it,” applies to The Rheumatologist August 2017 article that documents the continued low screening rates for those at high risk for osteoporosis-related fragility fractures, in particular people older than 65 and those who have suffered a fracture already. So here’s a…
Patients with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience on average double the risk of developing malignant lymphoma when compared with the general population. With the major changes in RA treatment taking place over the past decade, has there been a reduction in the risk of lymphoma in this population? Researchers from the Karolinska Institute…
A two-year study among patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) showed that steroid injections for knee pain were no more effective than saline injections and actually reduced cartilage volume more than placebo. The study, conducted at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, looked at progression of cartilage loss and change in knee pain after treatment with placebo…
A recent study, conducted by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), examined whether the addition of abatacept, a drug that affects T cell activation, to standard prednisone treatment could reduce the risk of relapse in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).1 Although…
A new tool for assessing the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis (OA) may be useful for knee OA education. A recent study found the online risk calculator, OA Risk C, was effective in helping patients better understand their personal risk of developing the disease. It may also motivate some patients to embrace exercise-related behavior changes…
Romosozumab’s Future Is Uncertain Romosozumab, which has the possible U.S. brand name Evenity, is awaiting approval from the FDA.1 The treatment is an investigational, injectable biologic for treating osteoporosis. It increases bone formation and bone density, reducing a patient’s risk of fractures. The manufacturer no longer expects the FDA to approve the drug this year…
CHICAGO—Sherine E. Gabriel, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at Rutgers Medical School in Newark, N.J., and a past president of the ACR, presented an overview of cardiovascular disease and rheumatology on a Saturday morning to a room overflowing with rheumatologists attending the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April. She noted that physicians have known for a…