Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Comorbidities and Disease Control in RA

Publish date:: June 3, 2019

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) suffer from a variety of comorbidities, while cardiovascular (CV) and respiratory system diseases occur twice as often in difficult-to-control patients, a new study found. RA characteristics and physician-recorded comorbidities were analyzed in a sample of 1,937 patients with RA. Patients treated for RA for 5.2 years were classified as difficult-to-control when presenting with DAS28-ESR >3.2 despite previous use of ≥2 csDMARDs. Among the findings:

Hypertension, coronary artery disease, and diabetes were the most prevalent comorbidities in RA.
Difficult-to-control patients were increasing burdened with hypertension, CV diseases, respiratory system diseases, and gastroduodenal ulcers compared with the adequate control group.
Rheumatic Diseases Comorbidity Index is an independent predictor for difficult-to-control RA.

Citation:

Batko B, et al. Comorbidity burden and clinical characteristics of patients with difficult-to-control rheumatoid arthritis. [Published online ahead of print May 10, 2019]. Clin Rheumatol. doi: 10.1007/s10067-019-04579-1.

This Week's Must Reads

Osteoporosis prevalence in PsA similar to general population,

Swedish registry study finds atopic dermatitis significantly associated with autoimmune diseases,

Weight loss may be paramount lifestyle change in preventing gout,

Gut microbiome influences response to methotrexate in new-onset RA patients,

Early treatment of RA with DMARDs promotes sustained remission,

Must Reads in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gut microbiome influences response to methotrexate in new-onset RA patients,

Early treatment of RA with DMARDs promotes sustained remission,

Tocilizumab, methotrexate combo equals tocilizumab alone for preventing progression,

Biomarker-based prognostic score identifies cardiovascular risk in RA,

Early life exposure to famine raises risk of RA in adulthood,