Lupus News

An online survey of dermatologists and rheumatologists managing patients with systemic lupus erythematosus revealed areas of consensus in laboratory studies and also some practice-based differences.

Political activism is more accessible than ever thanks to the amplification offered by social media, and rheumatologists can use social media — particularly Twitter — to advocate for the profession and their patients, according to Angus Worthing, MD, private practice rheumatologist and chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the American College of Rheumatology.

Two studies presented at the EULAR Annual Congress revealed gaps between recommended standards of care and the actual care that patients in Europe are receiving for rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Prolonged maintenance therapy with cyclosporine was associated with ongoing complete responses in a cohort of patients with lupus nephritis, according to recent findings presented at the EULAR Annual Congress.

Researchers identified ApoB:A1 ratio and metabolomic lipoprotein signatures as possible novel biomarkers to predict cardiovascular risk in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data presented at the EULAR Annual Congress.

In this episode, James Rosenbaum, MD, an expert in inflammatory eye disease, breaks down how systemic autoimmune conditions can affect the eye and highlights pearls that Rheumatologists should know.

Although rheumatologists overwhelmingly agree on the use of conventional synthetic DMARDs and biologic drugs for inflammatory arthritis in patients with planned pregnancies, there appears to be little consensus on when to suspend drugs and how to handle unplanned pregnancies, according to survey data in BMC Rheumatology.

Black, Asian, Pacific islander and Hispanic patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are at a greater risk for developing more renal, neurologic and hematologic manifestations compared with white patients, and also demonstrate lupus nephritis, thrombocytopenia and antiphospholipid syndrome sooner, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Higher levels of adverse childhood experiences are associated with worse patient-reported disease activity, depression and health status — but not in physician-assessed measures — in systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

In the ever-changing landscape of the United States health care system, rheumatologists need a voice. They need a voice in managing the complex web of drug pricing structures, a voice in developing clinical guidelines, and, on a fundamental level, a voice in simply communicating with all the players involved in running the day-to-day operations of a rheumatology practice.