Rheumatology
Clinical discussions on autoimmune diseases, biologic therapies, vasculitis, and musculoskeletal conditions.
Recent Discussions
How long after initiation of steroids and immunosuppressive therapy does muscle biopsy remain reliably informative in the setting of suspected inflammatory myopathy?
I don't think there is any definitive, well-validated answer here. Certainly, obtaining a biopsy within ~2 weeks of initiating therapy, in my experience, has clearly not affected the histopathologic findings that would be characteristic of dermatomyositis, necrotizing myopathy or autoantibody-associ...
Do you recommend allopurinol desensitization in gout patients who develop a rash on allopurinol therapy?
I don't recommend desensitization for allopurinol-allergic patients. There was a time when this made sense due to the lack of a viable alternative therapy. The process is cumbersome in a private practice setting and not as simple as providing the patient with a prescription for febuxostat.Febuxostat...
Are there particular subsets of AAV patients in which avacopan is more effective?
The following answer was jointly drafted by Dr. Peter Merkel and Dr. David Jayne:Patients in the ADVOCATE trial were stratified at entry according to time of diagnosis (new/relapsing), diagnosis (GPA/MPA), ANCA serotype (PR3/MPO), and background immunosuppressive (cyclophosphamide/rituximab) with re...
How do you interpret treatment response in the DISCOVER-2 Trial when patients were allowed to remain on up to 10mg of prednisone equivalent for disease control while on guselkumab?
If patients were on less than or equal to prednisone 10 mg, they could continue that in the background during the trial, but note that only 20% of patients were on prednisone, a much lower figure than a typical rheumatoid arthritis trial, which is consistent with the point that rheumatologists shy a...
Do you screen for cardiac disease in patients with dermatomyositis in the absence of symptoms?
I don't typically evaluate for cardiac disease in patients with dermatomyositis who are not symptomatic. There are subtypes of myositis patients where cardiac involvement is more common (such as those with antimitochondrial antibodies and anti-SRP antibodies), and there it may make sense to keep a c...
How would you define failure of anabolic therapy for severe osteoporosis and when would you consider ordering a second round of Evenity or PTH analogue therapy?
“Failure” of any therapy is often in the eyes of the beholder. The most efficient way to determine if there is anabolic activity is to measure a serum PINP (does not need fasting) and, for the PTH anabolic recheck, the PINP 2-3 months later. IF the delta is >10, you can be confident there is more pr...
How do you approach anticoagulation in a woman with SLE who is planning pregnancy, has persistently positive isolated anticardiolipin IgA and anti-β2 glycoprotein I IgA antibodies and a prior history of a provoked DVT after prolonged air travel?
I consider persistently positive IgA anticardiolipin and anti-β2 glycoprotein antibodies just as relevant as IgG/IgM subclasses. Moreover, phosphatidylserine antibodies are also relevant, if this patient could be tested for that as well.
Do you start bisphosphonates after tapering off menopausal hormone therapy to prevent the rapid decline of bone mineral density?
Women lose one T-score unit (10-12%) of bone mass on average during menopause. Estrogen, as a part of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), is approved by the FDA to prevent osteoporosis, but not for its treatment. Upon MHT discontinuation, women will experience a period of rapid bone loss, for which st...
Do you routinely perform muscle biopsies in patients presenting with the classic symptoms of Inclusion Body Myositis along with positive CN1A antibody?
YES. There are new consensus guidelines from ENMC about the diagnosis of IBM (Lilleker et al., PMID 38522330). They define the clinical presentation of IBM as typical (age >45, progression over >12 months, long finger flexor weakness > deltoid weakness, quadriceps weakness > hip flexors), or atypica...
In light of promising results of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19, should we consider using it prophylactically in cancer patients, especially if immunocompromised?
At this time, as there is no good evidence available, I would not recommend the use of hydroxycholoroquine prophylactically in cancer patients. It is unclear whether it would prevent contagion, probably not, and we still don't know if it will have any effect on the course of COVID-19. We expect ther...