Ankylosing Spondylitis

This month’s cover story is a roundtable discussing the coordination of care for patients with both ankylosing spondylitis and inflammatory bowel disease, and features commentary from gastroenterologists and rheumatologists, including Miguel Regueiro, MD; Brett Smith, DO; Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH, MBBS; Nicole Cotter, MD; Sharon Dudley-Brown, PhD, FNP-BC; and Seyedehsan Navabi, MD. It is a terrific read and reminded me of one of the many reasons that rheumatology is such a terrific specialty — namely, that we have virtually no boundaries.

Sometimes, the best way to care for a patient is to know one’s own limitations.

The FDA has approved once-daily oral upadacitinib for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis who are intolerant, or have had an inadequate response, to one or more TNF inhibitors.

Acute anterior uveitis in first-degree relatives of axial spondyloarthritis probands should trigger a screening for axial SpA, according to researchers in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Patients with psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis who received once daily upadacitinib 15 mg experienced improvements in pain measures through 1 year, according to data published in RMD Open.

Nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis remains an underrecognized and undertreated condition in the United States, with rheumatology often the last stop for many of these patients. However, with a recent ICD-10 code upgrade, that may begin to change.

The FDA has approved Xeljanz for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis who have had an inadequate response, or intolerance to, TNF inhibitors, according to a Pfizer press release.

The FDA has designated Cyltezo the first approved interchangeable biosimilar to treat certain inflammatory diseases, allowing pharmacists to substitute it for Humira without the need for the prescriber to alter the prescription.

Upadacitinib significantly reduced signs and symptoms of both ankylosing spondylitis and nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis, as well as improved physical function and disease activity, according to a pair of phase 3 studies from AbbVie.

Secukinumab improves non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis signs and symptoms across patients grouped by C-reactive protein level, MRI score, HLA-B27 status and sex, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.