Lupus

A mean hydroxychloroquine blood level of more than 1,068 ng/mL is associated with a 69% reduction in thrombotic events, compared with blood levels of less than 648 ng/mL, among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data.

Baseline prednisone use is associated with an increased risk for poor outcomes among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who are tapering hydroxychloroquine, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Prednisone in doses of 20 to 39 mg for more than 1 month, or 40 mg daily for just 1 month, remains the most important corticosteroid predictor of osteonecrosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to data.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is more severe among U.S. Asian populations compared with whites, with Filipino individuals in particular affected at “strikingly” young ages, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Treatment access issues and distress related to COVID-19 are highly associated with disease activity and flare among patients with rheumatic disease, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

The FDA has approved belimumab in intravenous and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of lupus nephritis in adult patients who are receiving standard therapy, according to a press release from GlaxoSmithKline.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is 2.3 times more prevalent among patients with psoriatic arthritis compared with the general population, according to data published in The Journal of Rheumatology.

There were approximately 1.3 billion cases of musculoskeletal disorders worldwide in 2017, leading to 121,300 deaths and 138.7 million disability adjusted life years, according to findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Sepsis has surpassed pneumonia as the most common hospitalized infection in systemic lupus erythematosus, with a rate that has increased more than six-fold from 1998 to 2000 to 2015 to 2016, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Adding belimumab to standard therapy improves renal outcomes, biomarker levels and overall disease activity among patients with lupus nephritis, according to a speaker at ACR Convergence 2020.