Spondyloarthritis

October 15, 2020

Back pain is the second leading symptom prompting a visit to a primary care physician. Here, we highlight a review of axial spondyloarthritis from Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The review aims to help primary care physicians detect this condition and know when to refer to a rheumatologist.

July 30, 2020

Patients with axial spondyloarthritis who smoke may be more likely to have sacroiliac joint inflammation if they have a blue‐collar job or low education, according to a study recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. In this Q&A with study author Elena Nikiphorou, M.B.B.S./B.Sc., M.D.(Res), Consultant Rheumatologist at King's College Hospital in London, U.K.,we discuss the study and its findings.

July 30, 2020

Patients with axial spondyloarthritis may be more susceptible to higher disease activity if they are overweight or obese, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in RMD Open. In this Q&A with study author Jean Liew, M.D., of University of Washington in Seattle, we discuss the study and its significance.

June 23, 2020

French researchers writing in Arthritis and Rheumatology report that of 609 surveyed spondyloarthritis patients self-isolating at home due to COVID-19, most say their condition has progressed while in isolation and for some, the change has been considerable.

June 08, 2020

The increased cardiovascular disease risk in patients with ankylosing spondylitis is explained both by traditional  cardiovascular risk factors as well as the underlying chronic inflammatory process. However, this dual etiology is not adequately addressed in clinical practice, according to a presentation on June 3 at the European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) annual meeting.

June 08, 2020

Spondyloarthritis is associated with an increased risk of preterm births, small gestational age infants and elective cesarean section deliveries, according to study data presented on June 4 at the European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) annual meeting.

June 04, 2020

Eli Lilly announced this week that Taltz (ixekizumab) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). And, this week during the EULAR annual meeting, the company is reporting results from the 52-week SPIRIT phase 3b/4 trial for psoriatic arthritis comparing ixekizumab to adalimumab.

May 08, 2020

Writing in Practical Pain Management, Don L. Goldenberg, M.D., addresses clinical approaches for managing medications during the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with chronic rheumatic autoimmune disease.

May 08, 2020

In this Q&A with rheumatologist Nigil Haroon, M.D., Ph.D., of the University Health Network and Krembil Research Institute at the University of Toronto, we discuss COVID-19 factors specific to patients with spondyloarthritis.

April 07, 2020

A new study shows there is little to no clinical benefit in reducing TNFi treatment dosages for patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

April 06, 2020

A comprehensive review of published studies on gut microbiota, immunity and arthritis suggests that having a microbial imbalance may precede the development of spondyloarthritides and osteoarthritis.

March 05, 2020

A two-pronged vaccination approach performs better than a single pneumococcal vaccination in patients receiving conventional DMARDs or abatacept-treated patients, but not in patients receiving rituximab, say researchers writing in Arthritis Research & Therapy.

February 28, 2020

Adding methotrexate to adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) in axial spondyloarthritis was associated with reduced immunogenicity, and prolonged co-medication was associated with long-term maintenance of adalimumab, say researchers recently writing in RMD Open: Rheumatic & Musculoskeletal Diseases.

February 25, 2020

A study of 312,081 pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis or no inflammatory arthritis, finds that women with rheumatoid arthritis are more likely to have pregnancy complications.

February 10, 2020

Long-term use of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) may show radiographic progression benefit in axial spondyloarthritis, say researchers recently writing in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

February 07, 2020

The practice of systematically tapering biological disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in all patients with inflammatory arthritis who have reached a certain disease activity target may not be supported by current evidence, according to a review published recently in Autoimmunity Reviews

February 07, 2020

The internationally recommended Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) cutoff of four and above may not be applicable when initiating treatment with the tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor (TNFi) golimumab (Simponi, Janssen), say researchers recently writing in The Journal of Rheumatology.

January 14, 2020

Turkish researchers are reporting the results of small study that shows too much vitamin D may be associated with the severity of in disease ankylosing spondylitis patients. Learn more about this and other recent findings from spondylarthritis research in today's news roundup. 

January 08, 2020

In patients with ankylosing spondylitis receiving treatment with non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), timely therapeutic strategies should be implemented in order to manage gastrointestinal risk, say researchers recently writing in the International Journal of Rheumatic Disease.

January 07, 2020

In a review published last month in Autoimmunity Reviews, British researchers outline factors physicians should consider when contemplating tapering biologic therapies in patients with inflammatory arthritis. How best to wean patients from biologic therapy is an issue that comes up more frequently these days as patients increasingly achieve remission or low disease activity. In this slideshow, we highlight considerations physicians may want to consider in treating these patients.