Recommendations for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in Saudi Arabia: adolopment of the 2021 American College of Rheumatology guidelines.

Background: The 2021 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) rheumatoid arthritis (RA) guideline considers the specific context of the United States which differs from that of Saudi Arabia in many aspects that may impact recommendations. The objective of this project was to adapt a set of prioritized recommendations from the 2021 ACR guideline for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis RA for the context of Saudi Arabia, by the Saudi Society for Rheumatology (SSR).

Methods: The process followed the GRADE-ADOLOPMENT methodology, and the reporting adhered to the RIGHT-Ad@pt checklist.

Perspectives of the Key Stakeholders of the Alignment and Integration of the SaudiMEDs Framework into the Saudi Medical Licensure Examination: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose: The purpose of the Saudi Medical Education Directives Framework (SaudiMEDs) is to assure the essential level of competencies for medical graduates, which should be reflected in the Saudi Medical Licensure Examination (SMLE). This study explored the opinions of key stakeholders of the alignment and integration of the SMLE's blueprint and contents with the SaudiMEDs competency framework's themes and domains.

Participants And Methods: This was a qualitative case study, using a purposive sampling technique.

The Diagnostic Value of New Additional Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Antiphospholipid Syndrome.

Background: The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease that is characterized by thrombosis and/or pregnancy failure and associated with the presence of all or at least one of three standard antibodies (anti-phospholipid (aPL) antibodies, including lupus anticoagulant (LA), anti-cardiolipin (aCL), and anti-β2-glycoprotein I (anti-β2GPI)). A growing body of evidence recommends adding additional aPL antibodies, such as anti-phosphatidylserine (aPS), anti-prothrombin (aPT), and anti-annexin A5 (aAA5), to conventional laboratory tests (revised Sapporo criteria), especially in seronegative APS cases.

Objectives: We aimed to compare the diagnostic value, utility, and performance of these three additional antibodies along with the standard aPL antibodies in cases with confirmed and non-criteria APS (seronegative).

Future Directions of Rheumatology Training According to Saudi Vision 2030: Recommendations From a Saudi Experts Meeting.

Background: Worldwide research anticipates that a current shortage of rheumatologists will exacerbate over the next decade, whereas the need for arthritis specialists will continue to escalate. Saudi Arabia (SA) also encounters a limited geographical distribution of rheumatologists and rheumatology fellowship training centres.

Objective: Reporting the Saudi rheumatologists' advisory meeting conducted in Makkah, SA in January 2020 with the aim to discuss the "Saudi Vision 2030" for rheumatology training programs.

Risk of tuberculosis reactivation with rituximab therapy.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world's deadliest diseases, and one-third of the world's population is infected with it. The link between antitumor necrosis factor therapy and reactivation of latent TB is well recognized. However, only limited studies have evaluated the risk of TB with rituximab, a B-cell-targeting therapeutic agent used recently for rheumatological diseases, primarily rheumatoid arthritis.