April 2025 to July 2025
Author: Jacob J.E. Koopman
‘Am I doing this right?’ Physician perceptions of the global assessment in clinical trials of systemic sclerosis
Sabanovic and colleagues (10.1093/rheumatology/keaf377) interviewed experts in the clinical assessment and research of systemic sclerosis on how they define, perform and interpret a physician’s global assessment. According to 18 rheumatologists and 1 patient, major themes were: i) physician uncertainty; ii) variation in the assessment; iii) physician efforts to improve its consistency; iv) its utility. Most thought that it should assess changeable aspects of disease, commonly conceived of as disease activity. The optimal method was uncertain. Participants were also uncertain about their own methods of assessment and their variability.
Changes to physical function and body composition during the first 2 years of polymyalgia rheumatica
Leung and colleagues (10.1093/rheumatology/keaf375) prospectively followed 36 patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and 32 age- and sex-matched controls 3 months after glucocorticoid initiation and 18 months later. Patients had greater disability scores than controls at both times. Female patients performed more poorly in the chair stand test, physical performance battery and gait speed than controls. Body composition was not different.
Clinical features in VEXAS syndrome: a systematic review
Al-Hakim and colleagues (10.1093/rheumatology/keaf293) studied publications about the clinical features of VEXAS syndrome. Analyzing 720 patients from 33 case reports and 21 case series across 32 countries, the following were counted: cutaneous involvement (82%), constitutional symptoms (69%), respiratory disease (61%), joint involvement (47%), ocular disease (44%), venous thromboembolism (42%), myelodysplastic syndrome (36%), cardiac involvement (8%), renal disease (7%) and central nervous system manifestations (8%).
Jacob Koopman
Jacob is a medical specialist in internal medicine and clinical immunology, working in the Netherlands. In his clinical work and research, he focuses on systemic lupus erythematosus, particularly its prediction before it becomes overt. He cares for patients with various other systemic immunological diseases. He is a member of the Dutch Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and of EULAR. He is an editor for the Dutch Journal of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology. He is a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-committee.