December 2025 to March 2026
Author: Claudia Iannone
Disease activity and hyperuricemia predict cardiovascular events in Psoriatic Arthritis: 10-year prospective evidence from the CARMA cohort
Llorca et al. investigated the relationship between disease activity, hyperuricemia, and cardiovascular events in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients over a 10-year prospective follow-up in the CARMA cohort. The study found that both high disease activity and elevated uric acid levels independently predicted the development of major cardiovascular events in PsA, highlighting the importance of controlling systemic inflammation and monitoring metabolic comorbidities in long-term management.
Development and validation of a multi-institutional electronic phenotype for juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Taxter et al. developed and validated an electronic phenotyping algorithm for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) using data from multiple institutions. The algorithm demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for identifying JIA cases from electronic health records, enabling large-scale real-world research and significantly accelerating pharmacoepidemiological studies and comparative effectiveness research in paediatric rheumatology.
Increased incidence of sudden cardiac death in systemic sclerosis: data from a nationwide cohort study
Fairley et al. investigated the incidence and risk factors of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in 1,708 Australian SSc patients. SCD occurred in 1.9% over 10,650 person-years, yielding an incidence rate of 300/100,000 person-years — 3 to 9 times higher than general population estimates. On multivariable Cox modelling, older age at SSc onset, coronary artery disease, reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and smoking history were independently associated with SCD, identifying important and potentially modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in SSc.
In utero and early life exposures to smoking are associated with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases
Ohnishi et al. examined pregnancy complications and early-life tobacco exposures in a case-control study including 329 children and 184 adults with SARDs versus unaffected siblings and unrelated controls. Juvenile-onset probands had significantly higher rates of prenatal and household smoke exposure (OR 4.04 and 4.83). In adults, household smoking before age 10 was strongly associated with SARD risk. These associations persisted after adjusting for HLA-DRB1*03:01, supporting a role for early environmental exposures independent of genetic predisposition
Claudia Iannone
Claudia Iannone is a Rheumatologist at IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele and Gaetano Pini in Milan, Italy. Her research focuses on systemic sclerosis, interstitial lung disease in RMD, and vasculitis.
She is a member of the Italian Society of Rheumatology and the EULAR Lung Study Group and serves as Clinical Group Coordinator of the EUSTAR Young Investigators Group (YIG).
Dr. Iannone is a member of the EMEUNET Social Media Subcommittee.