ACR/ARHP 2017

An internet-based educational tool developed by Canadian researchers helps adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis to manage their disease and leads to improvements in their health-related quality of life relative to standard disease education.

The use of biologic agents by women with rheumatoid arthritis during pregnancy is not associated with a raised risk for serious or opportunistic infections for their infants, suggests research reported at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, USA.

The anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab improves ocular outcomes in the short and long term in patients with severe uveitis related to juvenile idiopathic arthritis, indicates research presented at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, USA.

Results of the phase II FORWARD trial suggest that sprifermin, an investigational recombinant human fibroblast growth factor, may prevent cartilage loss in patients with knee osteoarthritis, but its effect on pain and physical function remains unclear.

An internet-based educational tool developed by Canadian researchers helps adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis to manage their disease and leads to improvements in their health-related quality of life relative to standard disease education.

Research presented at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, USA, highlighted the adverse effects of obesity on clinical and patient-reported outcomes in various rheumatic disorders, including axial spondyloarthropathy, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. In this report, we outline the main findings of four studies addressing this issue.

Several studies presented at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, USA, explored different aspects of rheumatoid arthritis treatment, including guideline recommendations, adherence to second-line therapy, and predicting treatment response.

In the “Great Debate” session at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, USA, two experts discussed whether patients with rheumatic diseases who are treated with biologic DMARDs should switch to biosimilar agents, focusing on efficacy, safety, and cost.