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Top Medical News
Tofacitinib yields clinical and radiographic improvements in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with inadequate response to methotrexate, and such improvements are sustained for up to 24 months without new safety signals, according to the results of the phase III ORAL* Scan trial.
Recent continuous use of methotrexate (MTX) is associated with a 20-percent decrease in cardiovascular events (CVE) in patients with early-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a recent study has shown. In addition, greater MTX use in the first year of cohort entry appears to lower the risk of CVE.
Use of atorvastatin in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is safe and leads to substantial reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which translates to a 40-percent decrease in the risk of cardiovascular events, according to data from the TRACE RA trial.
Increases in levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) but not low-density lipoprotein or total cholesterol after 24 weeks of tofacitinib treatment translate to a lower risk of future major adverse cardiovascular events, according to a study.
Initiation of biologic therapy is less frequent among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are older, nonwhite and have more comorbidities, according to a recent study. Biologics may be avoided in older and sicker patients due to safety concerns, but glucocorticoid use is similar regardless of age and more common in patients with comorbidities, with implications for patient outcomes.
In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in remission, increasing the dose interval of tocilizumab injection from the standard 162 mg once weekly to twice weekly may do more harm than good. Specifically, such a strategy is associated with a lower chance of remission maintenance as well as a lack of improvement in tolerability, as shown in a recent trial.
A new osteoporosis guideline by the Endocrine Society puts a premium on women at high risk of fractures, particularly those who have had a recent fracture after menopause, and outlines the latest pharmacologic options for specific patient groups.
Special Reports
With the objective of establishing a Malaysian consensus on the use of topical NSAIDs in the management of musculoskeletal pain, this meeting brought together experts from various backgrounds, ie, rheumatology, pharmacy, orthopaedics and general medicine. At the meeting, Dr Mary Suma Cardosa delivered a talk on the pathophysiology and effective management of pain, while the lecture by Dr Yeap Swan Sim focused on the management of musculoskeletal and soft-tissue pain. This article presents excerpts from the expert meeting and features the consensus statements agreed during the meeting.
At the 47th Annual Scientific Meeting/Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Orthopaedic Association, Dr Algis Jovaisas discussed important clinical considerations when it comes to choosing between nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (nsNSAIDs) and selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs) for the management of acute pain.
At the recent launch of Nurofen® Express by Reckitt Benckiser Malaysia, Ms Joyce McSwan spoke on the importance of managing tension-type headache (TTH), highlighting the roles of drug and non-drug approaches in improving treatment outcomes.
At the International Osteoporosis Foundation Regionals – 6th Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting in Singapore, Professor Olivier Bruyère shared about the algorithm for the management of knee OA by the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO). MIMS Doctor also spoke to Professor Jean-Yves Reginster, president of ESCEO about this algorithm and the role of SYSADOAs in the control of pain and prevention of disease progression.
Conference Reports
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.
Pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are more likely to have premature delivery or baby of low birth weight compared with women without RA, according to a study presented at EULAR 2018.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a similar incidence of cancer regardless of whether they are treated with tocilizumab or tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, according to a study presented at EULAR 2018.
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.
