Dmard

Glucocorticoids are associated with a dose-dependent increase in the risk for serious infections among patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving DMARDs, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Upadacitinib monotherapy, at 15 or 30 mg daily, significantly improves clinical, radiographic and patient-reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis, compared with weekly methotrexate, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

The incidence and severity of COVID-19 among patients with rheumatic disease treated with targeted synthetic or biological DMARDs is consistent with those in the general population, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

ATLANTA — Patients with Down syndrome arthropathy experience a year-long delay from symptom onset to diagnosis, according to a presentation at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting.

The European Commission has approved the subcutaneous formulation of Celltrion’s infliximab biosimilar for adult patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to a prior DMARD, as well as patients with severe, active and progressive disease not previously treated with DMARDs, according to a manufacturer press release.

ATLANTA — Ixekizumab combined with conventional background medication is superior to both conventional background medication alone and placebo in improving signs, symptoms and inflammation based on MRI among patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis, according to data presented at ACR/ARP 2019.

ATLANTA — Data from a 2-year, randomized controlled trial presented here demonstrate that using ultrasound findings to guide early rheumatoid arthritis treatment strategy did not reduce MRI inflammation or result in less structural damage.

ATLANTA — Annual public spending by Medicare and Medicaid on biologic DMARDs more than doubled, from $5.3 billion in 2012 to $10.3 billion in 2016, largely due to post-market price increases, according to Natalie McCormick, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Adalimumab, with or without methotrexate, is well-tolerated over a period of at least 7 years among most children with polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis, according to data published Arthritis Care & Research.

ORLANDO — Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the presence of serum anti-citrullinated protein antibodies with erosive disease is a predictor of high health care use, according to data presented at the 2019 Rheumatology Nurses Society Annual Conference.