The long-term outcomes of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) are more favorable in recent years. However, calcinosis is still among the complications that can cause serious functional impairment. Little is known about the pathogenesis and risk factors of calcinosis. The aim of this study is to determine risk factors for the development of calcinosis in JDM.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects Black people two to three times more frequently than non-Black people and is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Four predominantly non-Black SLE cohorts highlighted that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is no longer primarily a late complication of SLE. This study assessed the timing and predictors of incident CVD in a predominantly Black population-based

The transition from pediatric to adult care is the focus of growing research. It is important to identify how to direct future research efforts for maximum impact. Our goals were to perform a scoping review of the transition literature, highlight gaps in transition research, and offer stakeholder guidance on the importance and feasibility of research questions designed to fill identified gaps.The transition

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology characterized by noncaseating granulomas.1 In the literature, we found a few cases of sarcoidosis combined with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), in patients treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor inhibitors2 and secukinumab.3 However, the coexistence of isolated cutaneous sarcoidosis and PsA is rare.4,5.

We read with great interest the article of Meara et al1 in your journal describing a case of chilblain-like lesions after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, millions of vaccine doses have been administered and their safety has been generally confirmed.

The ASAS health index (ASAS-HI) measures global functioning and health in axSpA patients covering domains of physical, emotional and social functioning. Main aim was to investigate the sensitivity to change of ASAS-HI in comparison with established parameters of disease activity, function, and mental health.

The Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SLICC/ACR DI) is associated with increased healthcare cost and mortality. We compared the trajectory of total and individual damage items of the SLICC/ACR DI in African-American vs Caucasian ethnicities in a large prospective SLE cohort. We also estimated the association between ethnicity and individual

As a chronic and systemic inflammatory condition, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects people's quality of life (QOL), with symptoms ranging from pain and fatigue to stiffness and restricted physical mobility. The availability of a number of longstanding and newer RA therapeutic options has helped combat troublesome aspects of the disease, including progressive joint erosion and damage.

To evaluate microRNA expression in synovial fluid (SF), plasma and leukocytes from patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Growing evidence suggests that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have increased risk for dementia. We assessed risk factors for incident dementia in an inception cohort of RA.

There has been rapid growth in the use of artificial intelligence analytics in medicine in recent years, including in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). Such methods represent a challenge to clinicians, patients, and researchers given the "black box" nature of most algorithms and the unfamiliarity of the terms and lack of awareness of potential issues around these analyses. Therefore, this

This Systematic Literature Review determined whether there is clinical utility for Dual Energy CT (DECT) to inform on prognosis for gout patients. With DECT, individualized treatment plans could be developed based on the patient's unique urate burden, with DECT used as a clinical outcome measure in gout management.

To develop and validate a patient knowledge questionnaire regarding axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

To determine the relationship between inflammation and radiographic progression over time in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) attaining a Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) of <4 during tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) treatment.

To evaluate fatigue frequency and severity among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and assess the impact of fatigue severity on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) assessing quality of life, function, and work productivity.

To provide the initial installment of a living guideline that will provide up-to-date guidance on the pharmacological management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Canada.

To compare clinical outcomes in children with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) who were managed before and after implementation of an evidence-based guideline (EBG).

To compare the Simplified Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (SASDAS) against the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) for measuring and categorizing disease activity using data from the EMBARK trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01258738), a randomized controlled trial of etanercept (ETN) for axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

While myocardial impairment is a predictor of poor prognosis in ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV), little is known about valvular involvement. This study aims at describing the clinical presentation, management and outcome of endocarditis associated with AAV.

OBJECTIVE To determine, amongst patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), whether the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) varies between patients treated with biologic and other therapies, and whether specifically the risk is higher in patients treated with etanercept. METHODS The British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register in Ankylosing Spondylitis (BSRBRAS) was used to determine

OBJECTIVE While general population studies have shown inverse associations between physical activity and common inflammatory biomarkers, the effects of physical activity on inflammatory gene expression and signaling pathways in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remain unknown. We aimed to determine whether physical activity independently associates with expression of inflammatory genes among people with RA

Here we describe the case of a 38-year-old man with a history of ischemic transient attacks and strokes from the age of 9 years, livedo reticularis, asymmetrical sensorimotor neuropathy, optic neuritis, testicular ischemia, digital ulcers, ulcerative colitis, and diastolic hypertension. Disease course was characterized by severe disease bouts treated with high-dose intravenous (IV) glucocorticoid (GC)

Rowell syndrome is the occurrence of erythema multiforme-like lesions in patients with cutaneous lesions of lupus erythematosus.1 We present a young female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), whose hand lesions exhibited both connective tissue disease-related periungual angiotelectasis and the typical erythema multiforme.

OBJECTIVE Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients are at higher risk of poor outcomes from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The vaccination rate among such patients is unknown. We aimed to assess COVID-19 vaccine uptake among SLE patients. METHODS We included 342 SLE patients from the Lupus Midwest Network and 350 age, sex, race, and county matched comparators. Vaccination uptake for influenza

We have read with great interest the recent study by Meer et al on novel methods to identify risk factors for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and ankylosing spondylitis.1 In that article, we appreciate that age, sex, BMI (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), and time observed between the experimental group and control group were highly

OBJECTIVE To determine long-term use of and adherence with urate lowering therapy (ULT), serum urate (SU) control, and self-reported flares in participants from a randomised controlled trial of allopurinol dose escalation to achieve target SU (<0.36 mmol/L) in people with gout. METHODS For surviving study participants, ULT dispensing and SU testing within the preceding 12 months was obtained by medical

The measurement of disease activity in chronic inflammatory joint diseases represents a challenge that rheumatologists have faced head-on over the past decades. Disease activity is a complex phenomenon that, necessarily, must consider multiple domains of health.

Chronic inflammatory arthritis is a hallmark of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), where co-existence of Crohn's Disease (CD) is prominent. We investigated the association between biomarkers of collagen degradation in healthy controls (HC) and patients with axSpA, CD and CD-axSpA overlap, with the aim to investigate the biomarkers' ability to identify patients with CD-axSpA overlap.

To evaluate the impact of a wearable activity tracker used to encourage physical activity, on disease flares in spondyloarthritis patients.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common extramuscular complication contributing to significant morbidity and mortality in anti-melanoma differentiation associated gene 5 positive dermatomyositis (anti-MDA5+ DM). We conducted this study to investigate the association of anti-Ro52 antibodies with clinical characteristics and prognosis in anti-MDA5+ DM patients.

We sincerely appreciate Dr. Kawada's comments in response to our metaanalysis.1 We agree with most of these opinions and would like to clarify our views here.

To explore anxiety and self-isolation 15 months into the COVID-19 pandemic including attitudes towards and impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD).

Extravascular necrotizing granuloma is pathologically one of the most characteristic findings of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). A 46-year-old man presented to the rheumatology clinic with a 2-week history of arthralgia and 4-day history of dysesthesia of the feet.

To describe which parameters were collected by rheumatologists to monitor patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during teleconsultation and identify which ones have more impact on clinician intervention.

Melorheostosis, also known as Leri-Joanny disease,1 is a very rare skeletal dysplasia manifesting as regions of bone sclerosis with a characteristic flowing candle wax appearance in the classical form of the disease. In addition to this classical pattern, 3 other types of melorheostosis have been described: osteoma-like, osteopathia striata-like, and myositis ossificans-like.

The literature describing follow-up carotid contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is limited. We report our experience with monitoring CEUS performed in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK).

Heterogeneity exists among patients with myositis who have antinuclear matrix protein 2 (anti-NXP2) antibodies, although they usually present with severe muscle weakness. This study aimed to investigate the differences in phenotypes and prognoses among adult patients with myositis who have anti-NXP2 antibodies.

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is characterized by ANCA production in the serum. This disease entity includes microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Previous studies have revealed that neutrophils excessively activated by ANCA and other serum factors are critically involved in AAV pathogenesis1.

I read the paper by Deng et al,1 in which the authors conducted a metaanalysis to evaluate whether febuxostat use increased the risk of developing cardiovascular (CV) events, cardiac death, and all-cause mortality. The adjusted relative risk (RR) of febuxostat use for all-cause mortality was 0.87 (95% CI 0.57-1.32).

Understanding adverse events (AEs) of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is critical to both patients and clinicians. AEs-"side effects" from the patient perspective-contribute significantly to patients' disease experience by interfering with activities of daily living and quality of life (QOL).1.

Melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) is a viral RNA sensor induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Similarities have been reported between the clinical presentations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia and anti-MDA5 antibody-positive interstitial lung disease (anti-MDA5-ILD). However, it is unknown whether COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are associated

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic fibro-inflammatory disease characterized by tumor-like mass with infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells.1.

Index-to-ring finger ratio (IRFR) has been reported to be associated with joint osteoarthritis (OA). We aimed to evaluate the association between IRFR and trapeziometacarpal joint (TMCJ) OA in an elderly Korean population.

The 76th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Rheumatology Association was held virtually on February 2-5, 2022. The program consisted of presentations covering original research, symposia, awards, and lectures. Highlights of the meeting include the following 2022 Award Winners: Distinguished Rheumatologist, John G. Hanly and Lori B. Tucker; Distinguished Teacher- Educator, Stephen Aaron; Emerging Investigator

We read with interest the article published in The Journal of Rheumatology by Ogdie et al1 in which apremilast monotherapy showed more benefit in a specific subset of the psoriatic arthritis (PsA) population (oligoarticular pattern), compared to methotrexate (MTX) and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). The authors collected baseline and follow-up data (6-month period) regarding

Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), a life-threatening complication of SLE, resembles familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (fHLH), an inherited disorder of hyperinflammation. We compared the proportion of childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) patients with and without MAS, who carried low-frequency HLH non-synonymous variants.

Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of conventional and targeted disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARDs and tDMARDs, respectively) in treating enthesitis in PsA.

Unfortunately, not much is certain in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). People with a SARD such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) are dealing with a chronic, inflammatory, and often unpredictable autoimmune condition that might cause them to experience illness-related uncertainty.1,2.

People with systemic sclerosis (SSc) often report substantial burden from appearance changes. We aimed to estimate the patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) for burden from appearance changes in people with SSc.

Rheumatologists play a pivotal role in the management of patients with Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). Due to time constraints, the skin may not receive the attention that is needed for optimal patient outcome. Therefore, the aim of this study was to select a set of core questions that can help rheumatologists to identify PsA patients with a high skin burden in daily rheumatology clinical practice.

In antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) nephropathy, activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) contributes to endothelial cell proliferation, a key finding of aPL microvascular disease. Here, we examined mTOR activation in the skin of aPL-positive patients with livedo.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis that affects one-third of patients with psoriasis (PsO). PsA is a relatively common condition in rheumatology clinics. In fact, the prevalence of PsA increased to approximately 0.6% of the general population in a recent epidemiological study carried out in Spain.1.

The diagnostic yield of sural nerve biopsy (SNB) in vasculitis is uncertain. Our aim was to document relevant characteristics of patients undergoing sural nerve biopsy in the investigation of vasculitis; determine the diagnostic yield; relate positive biopsy findings to patient demographic, laboratory, and clinical parameters; and to calculate the rate of surgical complications.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) commonly demonstrate disordered pain processing, associated with high pain sensitization. Pain sensitization is often assessed using quantitative sensory testing (QST), which is burdensome to patients. The self-administered fibromyalgia survey questionnaire (FSQ) has been proposed as a low-burden, surrogate measure of central pain sensitization. We examined the

According to several international recommendations, disease activity should be regularly monitored with validated outcome measures in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), and therapy should be adapted accordingly.1-3 Increasingly, healthcare providers are encouraged to also use patient-reported outcomes (PROs) for this purpose, to capture valuable data from the patient's perspective.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important aspect in the management of chronic diseases such as spondyloarthritis (SpA). A promising approach to reduce respondent burden when measuring HRQOL is the use of shorter patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) delivered using computer-adaptive tests (CATs). However, the lack of an item bank which covers the entire continuum of the HRQOL domain