Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Among patients with polymyalgia rheumatica who relapse during glucocorticoid tapering, sarilumab is effective at enabling them achieve sustained remission and lowering cumulative glucocorticoid use, according to data.

Key details expressing arthralgia duration, morning stiffness or joint examination findings are often missing from rheumatology referral letters for inflammatory arthritis, according to data published in Rheumatology Advances in Practice.

Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis can overlap and resemble one another in diagnosis and disease course, and understanding where one ends and the other begins is critical for rheumatologists and primary care providers alike.

The recent FDA approval of sarilumab for the treatment of refractory polymyalgia rheumatica may have a significant and lasting impact on the use of long-term steroids for that condition.

The treatment target for patients with giant cell arteritis or polymyalgia rheumatica should be remission, with vascular damage prevention taking priority in patients with GCA, according to treat-to-target recommendations from EULAR.

The FDA has approved sarilumab for the treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica in adults who have experienced an inadequate response to, or cannot taper, corticosteroids, according to a press release from Sanofi.

PHILADELPHIA — Patients with steroid-resistant polymyalgia rheumatica who received sarilumab and tapered glucocorticoids achieved higher remission rates vs. glucocorticoid taper alone, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2022.

Tocilizumab improves outcomes in patients with giant cell arteritis who present with polymyalgia rheumatica symptoms only, cranial symptoms only or both at baseline, according to data published in Seminars in Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Patients with rheumatic diseases plus COVID-19 are more likely to require mechanical ventilation, but demonstrated similar clinical features and hospitalization rates as those with COVID-19 only, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

ATLANTA — Gadolinium-enhanced MRI improved diagnostic accuracy in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and helped predict disease recurrence, according to a presenter here.