April 2025 to July 2025
Author: Jacob J.E. Koopman
Current evidence on switching between biologic therapies for Still’s disease: a systematic literature review
Dagna and colleagues (10.1016/j.semarthrit.2025.152789) studied publications about the treatment of Still’s disease with biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). In 48 publications – of which seven guidelines – IL1 inhibitors were usually the recommended first-line treatment and switching to another IL1 inhibitor or an IL6 inhibitor was recommended in cases of lack of tolerability, inadequate response or treatment failure. Switching benefited treatment effects.
The role of surgery in esophageal involvement in systemic sclerosis: a systematic literature review
Matucci-Cerinic and colleagues (10.1016/j.semarthrit.2025.152791) studied publications about different types of surgical treatment of refractory gastro-oesophagal reflux disease related to systemic sclerosis. In 23 publications, 184 patients had a surgical treatment. Fundoplication was effective in 14 studies, of uncertain effect in 1 study and non-effective in 4 studies. All included studies reported low mortality and morbidity rates related to surgery. Relevant data were often lacking.
AA amyloidosis in inflammatory joint diseases: a systematic review
Savadogo and colleagues (10.1016/j.semarthrit.2025.152762) studied publications about the epidemiology of AA amyloidosis related to inflammatory joint disease. In 33 publications – with substantial heterogeneity – its prevalence in rheumatoid arthritis ranged declined over time from ca 20% to <1% and its prevalence in ankylosing spondylitis declined from ca 7% to ca 1%.
Developing efficient predictive models for the diagnosis of VEXAS syndrome
Montes and colleagues (10.1016/j.semarthrit.2025.152796) studied 144 patients who underwent UBA1 mutation testing to identify features associated with its presence. Predictive features included skin rash, chondritis, cytopenia, macrocytosis, uveitis and pulmonary disease. Models containing 5 features demonstrated good discriminatory capacity with an area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.81. A model containing absolute monocyte count only had an AUC of 0.78.
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.