Lupus News

SAN DIEGO — While encouraging patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus to use adequate sun protection, rheumatologists should be treating disease flares with more potent steroids then tapering off once other therapies are in progress, according to a presentation at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

SAN DIEGO — Although “lupus headache” remains a disease-related entity in the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index, debate persists over the lack of a detailed definition for this type of headache and whether it represents a neuropsychiatric symptom of lupus, according to a presentation at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

SAN DIEGO — Rheumatologists treating patients with lupus nephritis should make a concerted effort to reduce or avoid use of NSAIDs and other nephrotoxic drugs in order to improve long-term outcomes, according to a presentation at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

SAN DIEGO — The 2016 recommendations by the American Academy of Ophthalmology on “proper” dosage of hydroxychloroquine lacked essential input from rheumatologists who rely on the drug to improve survival in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a presentation at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

By the time Lilly Stairs was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at the age of 19 — following an arduous series of tests and doctor visits — she had already been living with an autoimmune disease for 12 years.

The FDA has granted Gazyva breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of adult patients with lupus nephritis, according to a Genentech press release.

Infusion reaction rates to rituximab may be more significant among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus than other diseases, according to findings published in BMC Rheumatology.

Although depression and stress are both predictors of fatigue among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus at 1 year, stress is the “primary driver,” and reductions in stress are associated with a clinically meaningful decrease in fatigue, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and psoriasis, the presence of hypertension or preeclampsia accounts for approximately 10% to 33% of the excess risk for preterm birth, caesarean delivery and small for gestational age, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — A variant of the apolipoprotein L gene could help explain why patients of African ancestry with lupus typically experience worse disease-related outcomes compared with white patients, according to Ashira Blazer, MD, a rheumatologist and assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine.