European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress 2018

The human anti-interleukin (IL)-1β monoclonal antibody canakinumab continued to show optimal control of disease activity (ie, one or no new flare, no uptitration) in patients with colchicine-resistant familial Mediterranean fever (crFMF), TNF* receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), and hyper IgD** syndrome (HIDS)/mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD) after 112 weeks, according to results from the fourth phase of the CLUSTER*** trial presented at EULAR 2018.

Treatment with the immunomodulatory agent canakinumab reduces the risk of gout flares by more than half in patients with atherosclerosis, according to the post hoc analysis of the CANTOS* trial.

More than half of the increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk associated with osteoarthritis can be attributed to the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), suggests a study presented at the EULAR 2018 Congress.

Patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) derived a greater benefit from tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in terms of less radiographic progression when they also took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), suggests a cohort study presented at the EULAR 2018 Congress.

Although majority of Takayasu arteritis (TA) pregnancies are uneventful and have favourable foetal and maternal outcomes, pregnant TA patients with active disease are at increased risk of developing maternal complications, particularly cardiovascular events, according to a study presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress 2018.

Denosumab yields increases in bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP), and this benefit is not influenced by prior antiosteoporotic treatment, as shown in a study.

While self-reported adherence to treatment appears to be high for both systemic lupus erythematosus and vasculitis, patient forgetfulness remains a strong barrier, according to a research presented at the 2018 Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2018).

Among children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, the risk of developing uveitis is not greater in those treated with etanercept than in those receiving methotrexate, according to a study presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2018 Congress.