April 2026 to July 2026
Author: H. den Braanker
Persistent arthritis develops in joints previously affected by palindromic flares: a longitudinal study investigating the transition from palindromic rheumatism to rheumatoid arthritis
Sahin et al. tracked joint-level involvement in 63 patients with palindromic rheumatism (PR) who progressed to persistent inflammatory arthritis (PIA) after a median of 13.4 months. Hands and shoulders dominated at the first flare, and 70.8% developed PIA in a joint involved during an earlier flare (odds ratio 1.97, 95% confidence interval 1.61 to 2.41; p<0.001). Early flare location may thus predict where persistent arthritis settles.
Renal involvement in ankylosing spondylitis: a retrospective, population-based cohort study using data from the TriNetX Global Network
Tyczyńska et al. used the TriNetX Global Network to compare adults with ankylosing spondylitis with 1:1 propensity score-matched controls across renal outcomes. The risk of chronic kidney disease was more than doubled (hazard ratio [HR] 2.51, 95% confidence interval 2.21 to 2.84), and was highest for dialysis initiation (HR 7.58) and acute kidney injury (HR 2.18). Kidney disease is an underrecognised comorbidity here, arguing for routine renal monitoring.
[68Ga]Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 PET/CT in newly diagnosed giant cell arteritis: an inflammation-specific, treatment-responsive molecular imaging biomarker
Petzinna et al. tested [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT), targeting vascular adhesion protein-1, in eight patients with newly diagnosed giant cell arteritis, eight relapsing patients and eight controls. Tracer uptake was associated with ultrasound-assessed subclavian intima-media thickness (r=0.67, p=0.035) and decreased with prednisolone exposure (r=-0.51, p=0.043). Siglec-9 PET/CT thus shows promise as an inflammation-specific biomarker, pending larger cohorts.
Long-term safety and efficacy of upadacitinib compared with adalimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: 7-year data from the SELECT-COMPARE study
Fleischmann et al. report 7-year data from SELECT-COMPARE, comparing upadacitinib 15 mg once daily with adalimumab in rheumatoid arthritis after inadequate methotrexate response. Overall adverse event rates were comparable, although herpes zoster, creatine phosphokinase elevation, non-melanoma skin cancer, lymphopenia and hepatic disorders were numerically higher with upadacitinib. At week 372, Clinical Disease Activity Index remission was reached by 63.0% versus 53.5% (as observed). Upadacitinib thus sustains greater long-term remission, with a predictable safety profile.
Treat-to-target strategies are feasible in elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis given its reassuring risk–benefit profile
Dag et al. compared 2-year outcomes of 98 patients with elderly-onset (>65 years) and 327 with young-onset rheumatoid arthritis in the treat-to-target tREACH trial. Disease activity trajectories were similar (mean difference 0.03, 95% confidence interval -0.13 to 0.18), biologic initiation was less frequent in elderly-onset disease (28% vs 38%; hazard ratio 0.7), difficult-to-treat disease was rare and adverse-event-driven treatment changes were comparable. Treat-to-target remains appropriate in elderly-onset disease, alongside individualised management.
Hannah den Braanker
Hannah is a rheumatology trainee and clinician-scientist at Erasmus MC and Maasstad Hospital in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She completed her PhD in 2025 on the transition from psoriasis to psoriatic arthritis, focusing on T cells and lymphatic endothelial cells.
Her research centres on immune-stromal interactions in psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis, and on how obesity and lymphatic dysfunction drive disease progression. In 2027 she takes up a FOREUM International Fellowship at ETH Zürich, imaging visceral adipose tissue in inflammatory arthritis.
Hannah is EMEUNET country liaison for the Netherlands and a member of the EMEUNET Newsletter Sub-Committee.