Lupus & Connective Tissue Diseases
Conference Coverage
Experts debate merits of dual therapy for lupus nephritis
Brad Rovin, MD, and Richard Furie, MD, discussed the merits of dual therapy with voclosporin or belimumab in lupus nephritis but said response...
Conference Coverage
New options explored for sarcopenia in rheumatic diseases
Targeting mitochondrial pathways has produced the most promising results so far, but other avenues are still being explored as well, experts said...
Feature
Tocilizumab shortage continues as pandemic wears on
Emergency use authorization of tocilizumab for COVID-19 has led to a global shortage, but supplies for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory...
From the Journals
CAR T-cell therapy drives refractory SLE into remission
B-cell depletion with chimeric antigen receptor T cells induced both serologic and clinical remissions in a patient with treatment-resistant lupus...
From the Journals
HBV screening often incomplete or forgone when starting tocilizumab, tofacitinib
About three-quarters of patients starting either drug in a single health system did not undergo complete hepatitis B virus screening beforehand....
News from the FDA/CDC
FDA approves anifrolumab (Saphnelo) as first new lupus treatment in more than 10 years
Anifrolumab, a monoclonal antibody against type 1 interferon receptor, improved overall disease activity in patients with SLE on standard therapy...
From the Journals
COVID-19 vaccination does not increase risk of flare in patients with lupus
An international web-based survey found a very low rate of medically confirmed flare post COVID vaccination in nearly 700 participants.
Conference Coverage
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy still weighs heavy for some rheumatic disease patients
ACR COVID-19 vaccine task force chair Dr. Jeffrey Curtis goes over the latest evidence about COVID-19 vaccination in patients with rheumatic and...
News from the FDA/CDC
FDA approves intravenous immunoglobulin for dermatomyositis
Octagam 10% is the first treatment to have an indication specifically for dermatomyositis.
Guidelines
Three new ACR guidelines recommend treatment for six forms of vasculitis
Nearly all of the recommendations made in the three guidelines for giant cell arteritis and Takayasu arteritis, polyarteritis nodosa, and three...
From the Journals
Pharmacovigilance data implicate three new drugs in ANCA-associated vasculitis
Mirabegron, sofosbuvir, and nintedanib join a list of 12 other drugs that have been linked to an overreporting of drug-associated ANCA vasculitis...