Publications by authors named "Kim Lauper"
Background: Targeted therapies have been associated with potential risk of malignancy, which is a common concern in daily rheumatology practice in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a history of cancer.
Objectives: To perform a systematic literature review to inform a Task Force formulating EULAR points to consider on the initiation of targeted therapies in patients with IA and a history of cancer.
Methods: Specific research questions were defined within the Task Force before formulating the exact research queries with a librarian.
Background: Potential associations between targeted therapies and a new cancer in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a previous malignancy are a frequent concern in daily rheumatology practice.
Objectives: To develop points to consider (PTC) to assist rheumatologists when initiating a targeted therapy in the context of a previous malignancy.
Methods: Following EULAR standardised operating procedures, a task force met to define the research questions for a systematic literature review and to formulate the overarching principles (OPs) and the PTC.
Article Synopsis
- The main non-traumatic causes of acute single-joint pain include microcrystalline, degenerative, reactive, and septic arthritis, with septic arthritis needing quick exclusion through joint effusion puncture.
- If there’s no sepsis, surgical drainage should be done within 24 hours of admission.
- For conditions like gout and reactive arthritis, imaging and urate-lowering treatments are recommended, while osteoarthritis management emphasizes self-care strategies for pain relief.
Background/aim: The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the contraindications, special warnings, and boxed warnings with the aim to establish a framework to create a prescription safety checklist for a class of drugs or disease indication. This study covers biologic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) and targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs).
Methods: We identified contraindications, boxed warnings, and special warnings provided by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the participation of junior members and other representative roles in the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) task forces, comparing their experiences to traditional task force members.
- An online survey was conducted, revealing that a significant portion of junior members felt unprepared and uncertain about their roles, highlighting a gap in engagement compared to traditional members.
- The findings suggest that effective onboarding and clarification of roles by the convenor can enhance the participation and confidence of junior members, patients, and health professionals in task forces.
Objective: To develop an automatic gout register from electronic health records (EHRs) data.
Methods: We analysed the EHR of all patients >18 years old from a tertiary academic hospital (2013-2022) based on six criteria: International Classification of Diseases 10 gout diagnosis, urate-lowering therapy prescription, monosodium urate crystals in joint aspiration and gout-related terms in problem lists, clinical or imaging reports. We assessed the positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) of the query by chart reviews.
Article Synopsis
- Musculoskeletal diseases are increasing in French-speaking Switzerland, making it hard for people to get the care they need because there aren't enough rheumatologists.
- The shortage is getting worse because many doctors are getting older, there's not a lot of new doctors, and many young doctors want to work part-time.
- To fix this problem, more training for rheumatologists and better education for general doctors is needed, along with using nurses and physiotherapists to help patients.
Objectives: This observational study compares the effectiveness of baricitinib (BARI), a targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (tsDMARD), with alternative biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), from a prospective, longitudinal cohort.
Methods: We compared patients initiating a treatment course (TC) of BARI, tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) or bDMARDs with other modes of action (OMA), during a period when all these DMARDs were available in Switzerland. The primary outcome was drug maintenance; secondary outcomes included discontinuation rates related specifically to ineffectiveness and adverse events.
Article Synopsis
- - This year in rheumatology has seen advancements in understanding rheumatoid arthritis and low back pain mechanisms, improving diagnosis and management strategies.
- - Key studies were released on gout, axial spondyloarthritis, autoinflammatory diseases, and systemic vasculitides, along with updated treatment guidelines from ASAS-EULAR and EULAR/PReS.
- - New safety data on JAK inhibitors emerged, as well as innovative glucocorticoid-sparing strategies for treating giant cell arteritis.
Objectives: To assess the relationship between self-reported and serological evidence of prior chlamydial infection, rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related autoantibodies and risk of RA development.
Methods: This is a nested study within a prospective Swiss-based cohort including all first-degree relatives of RA patients (RA-FDR) who answered a questionnaire on past chlamydial infections. Primary outcome was systemic autoimmunity associated with RA (RA autoimmunity) defined as positivity for anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) and/or rheumatoid factor (RF).
Article Synopsis
- In a clinical trial, patients with rheumatoid arthritis using the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib experienced higher rates of adverse events compared to those on TNF inhibitors like adalimumab or etanercept.
- A study aimed to analyze treatment discontinuations due to adverse events among JAK inhibitors, TNF inhibitors, and other biological therapies in a real-world setting involving over 46,000 treatment courses.
- Results indicated that the rate of treatment discontinuation was similar for TNF inhibitors and JAK inhibitors overall, but certain JAK inhibitors showed different patterns, especially with older patients and specific cardiovascular risk factors, warranting cautious interpretation of the findings.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess and compare the effectiveness of oral glucocorticoids versus three types of biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) in treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
- Data from 12,334 patients on TNF-inhibitors, 2,100 on tocilizumab, and 3,229 on abatacept revealed a significant reduction in glucocorticoid use across all groups after one year, although the rate of withdrawal was slower than recommended.
- The findings indicate that while glucocorticoid usage declined, more emphasis is needed on properly tapering off glucocorticoids as patients achieve low disease activity, contrary to
Article Synopsis
- Gout is a health problem that can happen to people in the hospital when their blood urate levels are affected by other illnesses.
- Keeping urate levels within a certain range can help stop painful flare-ups of gout.
- Diagnosing gout usually involves a procedure called joint aspiration, but other imaging methods like ultrasound can also work.
Objectives: Treatment response is worse in obese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including patients on weight-adjusted therapies like infliximab. We aimed to assess the association between body mass index (BMI) and changes in RA disease activity and radiographic progression over time.
Methods: We included infliximab users with an RA diagnosis in the Swiss Clinical Quality Management in Rheumatic Diseases registry (1997-2020).
Article Synopsis
- This study looked at how serious infections and tuberculosis (TB) happen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are taking different medications.
- They analyzed data from nearly 34,000 treatment cases over 3 years to see how often these problems occurred with each type of medicine.
- The results showed that serious infections were a bit more common with certain medications, and TB mostly happened when patients were on early treatments before 2009.
Objectives: To investigate the association between severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and subsequent development of autoimmunity or pre-clinical manifestations associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in at risk population.
Methods: This is a nested study within a prospective cohort of first-degree relatives of RA patients (RA-FDR). Participants are tested for RA-associated autoantibodies (anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA)/rheumatoid factor (RF)) and clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of early disease.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease, primarily affecting the joints. Its activity is subject to exacerbations called flares. These RA flares are linked to cardiovascular, functional and radiological complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn rheumatology, this year has seen an expansion of knowledge about the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, with the availability of results from randomized trials evaluating a new molecule targeting IL-6, and regarding the safety profile of tofacitinib compared to TNF-alpha inhibitors. Interesting data on the outcome of pregnancy in patients with spondylarthritis have also been published. New molecules and different treatment strategies have shown promising results in psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The EULAR group updated recommendations for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by looking into new research about medications and their safety.
- They focused on different types of drugs like DMARDs and glucocorticoids, and set rules based on the best evidence from studies.
- The task force created 5 main principles and 11 recommendations to help doctors decide the best treatment plans, considering factors like effectiveness, safety, and cost.
Objectives: To develop EULAR recommendations for screening and prophylaxis of chronic and opportunistic infections in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD).
Methods: An international Task Force (TF) (22 members/15 countries) formulated recommendations, supported by systematic literature review findings. Level of evidence and grade of recommendation were assigned for each recommendation.
Article Synopsis
- Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) are at greater risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, prompting the need to evaluate the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines and treatments in this group.
- A study compared the antibody responses of IRD patients who received two doses of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines, analyzing samples at various intervals after vaccination.
- Results showed that mRNA-1273 led to significantly higher antibody levels compared to BNT162b2, particularly benefiting elderly patients, and specific medications lowered antibody responses.
Objectives: The expanded therapeutic arsenal in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) raises new clinical questions. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of cycling Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) with switching to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) in patients with RA after failure to the first JAKi.
Methods: This is a nested cohort study within data pooled from an international collaboration of 17 national registries (JAK-pot collaboration).
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that predominantly affects the joints. The prevalence of RA varies globally, with generally a higher prevalence in industrialized countries, which may be explained by exposures to environmental risk factors, but also by genetic factors, differing demographics and under-reporting in other parts of the world. Over the past three decades, strong trends of the declining severity of RA probably reflect changes in treatment paradigms and overall better management of the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealthcare workers have potentially been among the most exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as the deleterious toll of the pandemic. This study has the objective to differentiate the pandemic toll from post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers compared to the general population. The study was conducted between April and July 2021 at the Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF