The latest guidance is out for the prescription and monitoring of non-biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). It’s aimed at primary and secondary care practitioners managing patients with rheumatic disease in the UK.
Significant updates include:
(1) Harmonisation of monitoring schedules, recommending that all DMARDs that require laboratory monitoring follow the same frequency of testing
(2) More nuanced discussion of the use of methotrexate in lung disease is provided, drawing from the two large meta-analyses recently published.
(3) Significant change is made regarding the evaluation of retinal toxicity for hydroxychloroquine users:
Lead author Dr James Galloway, Senior Clinical Lecturer at King’s College London says:
“These updates have two major focuses: firstly, streamlining monitoring schedules wherever possible, given the myriad of different regimens across drugs, and most of the schedule variations were somewhat arbitrary in their origins; second, to review and incorporate the evidence base available, acknowledging several key publications that have emerged since the first guidance. The update provides an accessible and useful tool for primary and secondary care prescribers of anti-rheumatic therapies.”
View the full guideline online.
New strategy
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are delighted to share our new vision for how the society will operate. As a membership organisation, our primary duty is to put our members first in everything that we do.
With a focus on communication, transparency and collaboration, this strategy will enhance our ability to provide a wide and valuable range of resources to you over the next three years and beyond.
View the strategy online.
5 New scientific outputs from the Rheumatoid Arthritis register
The Biologics Registers have started 2017 with a surge of scientific outputs that’ll be of interest to Multi-Disciplinary Teams and their patients. After only three months there are already five outputs – four papers and one letter. They came out in a variety of journals and cover a broad range of the evidence needed for decision making, the risk of lymphoma, the relationship between exposure to anti-TNFs and the incidence and severity of MI, drug specific risk and characteristics of lupus and vasculitis-like events and the use and effectiveness of tocilizumab. The Letter was on pregnancy outcomes in women.
View the full references to of these publications online.
Rheumatology 2017 Conference
There are just a few weeks remaining until the UK’s leading rheumatology event returns to Birmingham, 25-27 April.
Registrations close 12 April 23.45 GMT – don’t miss out!