systemic lupus erythematosus Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with heterogeneous manifestations, including internal organ damage, which can result in severe morbidity and even death and often requires aggressive immunosuppressive treatment. More than 30 years ago, a bimodal peak in mortality was described in lupus patients, with late increases in death commonly seen a...

The increasingly close collaboration between ophthalmologists and rheumatologists is greatly aiding the early diagnosis and more effective interdisciplinary management of patients with inf lammatory eye involvement associated with many multisystem diseases [1–3]. For example, occurrence of acute anterior uveitis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and related spondylo arthropathies is more ...

DESCRIPTION A 26-year-old-man of Indian descent was referred to our rheumatology unit with 6 months of lower-back pain. He had lived in the UK for 5 years, travelling intermittently to holiday in India. His general practitioner detected a C-reactive protein of 55 mg/l and erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 95 mm/h and referred with a possible ‘spondyloarthritis’. The patient gave a history of ba...

O steochondrodysplasia is a heterogeneous group of conditions caused by impaired development of osseous skeleton. Within this group, spondylo-epimetaphyseal dysplasia (SEMD) represents a subgroup which includes a number of conditions associated with vertebral, epiphyseal, and metaphyseal anomalies. The International Classification recognises at least 15 distinct entities within this group as de...

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory musculoskeletal disease associated with psoriasis, and leads to progressive joint damage and disability. It is estimated that approximately 30% of patients with psoriasis have PsA [1]. PsA is classically described as a seronegative spondylo arthropathy with both peripheral and/ or axial arthritis; however, other significant musculoskeletal man...

Background Multidisciplinary management in a combined clinic improves patient experience and outcomes for pregnant women with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD). Achieving better IRD control pre, during, post-pregnancy pregnancy-compatible disease-modifying anti-rheumatic therapies (DMARDs) reduces maternal foetal mortality/ morbidity minimising complications. EULAR published recommendations...

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) effects in Ankylosing Spon-dylitis (AS) are only suspensive but because of their rapid efficacy on inflam-matory symptoms they are the first-line treatment in AS. Short term efficacy of NSAIDs in AS is observed for most patients but the correlation of NSAID intake with the long term prognosis and its potential influence on the structural progression...

The symptoms of SMD vary depending on the age of the patients (1) , the principal symptoms being as follows: limited postna-tal growth; rhizomelic shortening of the limbs in early childhood evolving to shortening of the trunk by the age of 10 years; tho-racic hypoplasia, which causes respiratory problems in the neona-tal period and increases susceptibility to respiratory tract infection (4) ; s...

BACKGROUND CT-P13 (Remsima®, Inflectra®) is a biosimilar of the infliximab reference product (RP; Remicade®) and is approved in Europe and elsewhere, mostly for the same indications as RP. The aim of this study was to compare the 54-week efficacy, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of CT-P13 with RP in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with a focus on patient-reported out...