Novel treatment options for Giant Cell Arteritis

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Giant cell arteritis is associated with significant treatment related morbidity due to the dependence on glucocorticoids as a treatment option. After sixty years of therapeutic stagnation, these are exciting times in the management of GCA. At this year's ACR Convergence meeting, encouraging data will be presented on options for GCA.

Pre-clinical RA: starting off the wrong foot

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Patients with clinically suspect arthralgia can represent a challenge for clinicians, in a sense that there are not yet reliable markers to predict evolution to clinical RA nor enough evidence to support routine prescription of conventional synthetic DMARDS or biologic treatments in this setting.

Outcomes of COVID-19 in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Patients with rheumatic diseases – requiring lifelong immunosuppressants— are at high risk for respiratory and viral infections. Over the past decade, an armamentarium of biologic and targeted therapies has led to better control of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Whether these patients, especially those receiving newer biological and targeted therapies such as JAK inhibitors, are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes remains uncertain. 

RheumNow Podcast – ACR Convergence Begins (11.5.2021)

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Dr. Cush reviews the news, and kicks off ACR21 learning and how to take in the annual meeting.

Polyautoimmunity: axSpA and Familial Mediterranean Fever

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Mysteries behind polyautoimmunity have confounded rheumatologists for decades. One such association, the co-existence of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), remains rare. In fact, we believe the rate to be between 0.5% and 7.5%.

Prolonging the Controversy of Hydroxychloroquine

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Since the start of the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was forced into the limelight for the prevention/treatment of COVID-19.

ACR21 Previews from Creaky Joints

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CreakyJoints will present 11 posters and two oral presentations at ACR 2021. COVID-19 research revealed significantly high levels of anxiety, anger, depression, and social isolation, which were linked to medication interruptions and associated flares suggesting during the pandemic, patients often felt unsupported by all levels of the healthcare system. 

Industry Press Releases - BMS, Abbvie, UCB, Janssen

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The pharmaceutical companies will feature the results of their pivotal clinical trials and data analyses at ACR Convergence 2021.  Below is a listing of some of their best studies for you to review and look for in the meeting.

Treat-to-Target Works in Gout With No Cardiac Toxicity

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New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that allopurinol and febuxostat may effectively lower urate levels when used in a treat-to-target approach. Importantly, both urate-lowering therapies were very effective with 90% of patients reaching target urate levels. Additionally, both appeared safe, with no evidence of increased cardiovascular toxicity (Abstract #1900).

Industry Abstract Previews #ACR21 - Horizon, Aurinia, AstraZeneca

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The pharmaceutical companies will feature the results of their pivotal clinical trials and data analyses at ACR Convergence 2021.  Below is a listing of some of their best studies for you to review and look for in the meeting.

Negative Concerns of Telemedicine in Rheumatology

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Post-pandemic structured surveys and interviews with rheumatology patients suggests they may prefer for face-to-face consultations, as telehealth visits run the risk of diagnostic inaccuracies and safety concerns.

NOR-DRUM Study: TNF Inhibitor Therapeutic Drug Monitoring is Effective

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New research presented this week at ACR  Convergence, the American College of  Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that proactive therapeutic drug monitoring, a newer treatment strategy where a patient’s drug serum levels are regularly assessed to adjust the dose and intervals, controlled disease more effectively than standard therapy with infliximab, a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor.