Lupus

Resources that can help educate patients with lupus about their diagnosis and encourage them to take a more proactive role in self-care.

Types of tests used to evaluate patients for signs of lupus or disease progression.

More than 50% of patients with classified SLE at Washington University’s Lupus Clinic exhibit clinically meaningful and persistent depression and anxiety symptoms over time.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending March 5, 2021.

Types of patient populations at higher risk for developing more severe forms of lupus.

Criteria used by rheumatologists to help classify lupus due to its heterogenous manifestation.

New recommendations were released by ACR and AAHKS regarding perioperative management of antirheumatic medications for patients with rheumatic diseases undergoing these procedures.

"For many years we lacked access to novel therapeutics in SLE and our outcomes frequently reflected this," stated Jack Arnold, MBBS, MRCP. "However, with new targeted therapies, we appear to be entering a new era where treatment decisions will require more nuanced thought."

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending February 25, 2021.

Study provides supportive data to confirm the pathogenic role of NEU1 in proliferative lupus nephritis.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending February 18, 2021.

Roy Fleishmann, MD, discusses his Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium presentation, “SLE Update: Novel treatments, and how we assess them.”

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Rheumatology Network's highlights from the week ending February 11, 2021.

In this Q&A, corresponding author Richard A Furie, MD, discussed the findings of his study comparing obinutuzumab with placebo for the treatment of proliferative lupus nephritis in combination with standard therapies.

Chengappa Kavadichanda, MD, discusses his study, “Short term outcomes of COVID-19 in lupus: Propensity score matched analysis from a nationwide multi-centric research network.”

Meningitis is the most frequent clinical syndrome in SLE patients with CNS infections. C. neoformans, M. tuberculosis and L. monocytogenes are the most common causative pathogens.

Stephen Balevic, MD, explains hydroxychloroquine PK and exposure-response in pregnancies with lupus and the importance of adhering to treatment both during pregnancy and postpartum.

The use of antimalarials was associated with a lower prevalence of congestive heart failure in a large Spanish cohort of patients with SLE.

“Pregnancies in women with SLE are often complicated,” investigators stated. “Accordingly, it is crucial to optimize drug therapy to promote disease control and improve outcomes.”

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who were younger in age or were serologically active yet clinically quiescent were more likely to have disease flare during glucocorticoid cessation.

Results showed equivalent effectiveness in disease control between the novel drug, sirolimus, and the classic immunosuppressant, tacrolimus, for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Vitamin D has been shown to improve both disease activity and fatigue in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

“Although many different autoantibodies have been investigated in SLE, only a limited number of autoantibodies are being used in clinical practice,” investigators stated. “Due to these limitations, there has been great interest in the discovery of new autoantibodies that can be used in clinical practice.”

Smoking increased the risk of developing malar rash and mucosal ulcers as well as increasing the likelihood of experiencing migraine, Raynaud’s phenomenon, and arthritis symptoms.

Women with systemic lupus erythematosus are more likely to have accelerated progression of atherosclerosis. Recognizing the risk factors, such as larger waist circumference and higher fasting glucose levels, may be an important step in preventing this condition.