April 2024 to July 2024
Author: Guillermo Carvajal Alegria & Miranda van Lunteren
Rheumatology (Oxford)
Switching to another mode of action after TNF inhibitors failure in rheumatoid arthritis: data from the RHUMDATA registry
Choquette et al. (10.1093/rheumatology/keae283) analysed the drug retention after failure of a first TNF inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis. They compared patients who received another TNF inhibitor and patients who received another mode of action. With a robust methodology including imputation of missing data and propensity-score adjusted analysis, they observed a lower discontinuation rate of other mode of action, compared to a second TNF inhibitor [adjusted HR 0.65 ; 95% confidence interval 0.44-0.94].
Evolution of quality of life and work productivity after two years in axial and non-axial spondyloarthritis
Bento da Silva et al. (10.1093/rheumatology/keae346) reported an improvement of the physical component summary of the Short-Form Health Survey 36, of presenteeism, work productivity loss and activity impairment in both axial and non-axial spondyloarthritis after two years in the SPACE cohort. Absenteeism was only improved in axial spondyloarthritis. All these components were worse in non-axial spondyloarthritis and in a multivariable analysis, axial spondyloarthritis was associated with less work productivity loss [incidence rate ratio 0.78 ; 95% confidence interval 0.62-0.98] and with less activity impairment [0.82 ; 0.69-0.97].
Psychological distress is present in half of the early arthritis patients
Zhao et al. (10.1093/rheumatology/keae276) analyzed the psychological distress in a national registry of early arthritis. At baseline, 3451/6873 (50.2%) of the patients presented psychological distress according to the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Screener. A higher psychological distress was associated with a higher disease DAS28 (β-coefficient 0.08, p < 0.01), a higher morbidity count (β coefficient 1, p < 0.01), prior depression (β coefficient 2.3, p < 0.01), among others. Psychological distress was still reported by 24.1% of the patients followed at 12 months.
Skin pigmentation during hydroxychloroquine treatment is frequent in a Chinese cohort
Yin et al. (10.1093/rheumatology/keae217) reported the results of a cross-sectional study of patients treated with hydroxychloroquine for more than 6 months. Hyperpigmentation was observed in 83/316 (26.3%) patients after a median duration of 12 months of treatment. The face (60.2%), lower limbs (36.1%) and hands (20.5%) were the most affected sites. A daily sun exposure of more than 1 hour was a protective factor [OR 0.43 ; 95% confidence interval 0.21-0.89].
Diagnostic specificity of the association of classification criteria and FDG-PET/CT in polymyalgia rheumatica
Nielsen et al. (10.1093/rheumatology/keae377) evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the association of FDG-PET/CT with the 2012 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for the diagnosis of PMR (clinical diagnosis validated at 6 or 12 months) in an investigation and a validation cohort. Sensitivity and specificity changed from 78 to 80% and 70 to 82% respectively when a positive Leuven score on FDG-PET/CT was associated with the classification criteria in the investigation cohort. In the validation cohort, sensitivity was 92% and specificity was 76%, with the association.
Guillermo Carvajal Alegria
Guillermo is an associate professor of rheumatology at the University of Tours and in the rheumatology department of the Tours University Hospital, France. His research interest are polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis, ultrasonography and procedures for clinical research and administration of biopharmaceuticals for scientific research. He is part of the board of directors of the French Rheumatology Society and of steering committee of the French College of Teaching Rheumatologists. He is a member of the EMEUNET Visibility & Global Affairs sub-committee.
Miranda van Lunteren
Miranda is a post-doctoral clinical researcher and clinical study coordinator at Department of Rheumatology of the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden. In 2020 she obtained her PhD on the burden of early axial spondyloarthritis. Her major research interest is axial spondyloarthritis, with a focus on observational studies, imaging and patient-reported outcomes. She has an interest in methodology and clinical trials. Miranda is the study coordinator of the ASAS CLASSIC study, a member of the Y-ASAS Website Subgroup and of the EMEUNET Social Media Sub-Committee.