Dmard

Filgotinib improves rheumatoid arthritis signs, symptoms and physician function, and inhibits radiographic progression, all while being well-tolerated in patients with an insufficient response to methotrexate, according to data.

Secukinumab is effective in psoriatic arthritis at 6 and 12 months, with significantly better remission, low disease activity, retention and response rates in patients naïve to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, according to data.

Glucocorticoids, even at a low dose, may increase the risk for COVID-19, while immunomodulatory treatments appear safe for patients with inflammatory arthritis, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

Using subclinical synovitis, rather than clinical arthritis, to identify rheumatoid arthritis produces a high false-positive rate, with 44% to 89% never developing the disease, according to data published in Rheumatology.

Upadacitinib, in doses of either 15 or 30 mg, is superior to placebo in improving signs and symptoms of active psoriatic arthritis among patients who are intolerant, or had an inadequate response, to a biologic DMARD, according to data.

Tight control and treat-to-target, although cost-effective, are not superior to usual care for improving ASAS-HI scores in patients with axial spondyloarthritis, according to a speaker at ACR Convergence 2020.

Patients with polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis achieved high-level disease control for up to 2 years when treated with tocilizumab, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Physicians should confront difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis by rethinking the diagnosis, reassessing available medications, and — importantly — talking with the patient, according to a speaker at the 2020 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology-West.

Medicare spending on DMARDs frequently used for rheumatoid arthritis increased from $4.4 billion to more than $10 billion between 2012 and 2017, with biologic DMARDs accounting for 95% of total expenditures each year, according data.

A review of social media posts by patients with rheumatoid arthritis revealed generally positive opinions about DMARDs, particularly regarding efficacy, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.