Serious infusion-related reaction after rituximab, abatacept and tocilizumab in rheumatoid arthritis: prospective registry data.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the incidence of serious infusion-related reactions (SIRRs) in RA treated by non-TNF-targeted biologics. Methods: We analysed data from three independent prospective registers, namely autoimmunity and rituximab, Orencia (abatacept) and RA (ORA) and Registry RoAcTEmra (tocilizumab), promoted by the French Society of Rheumatology and including patients with RA. SIRRs were defined by an occurrence during or within 24 h of an infusion and requiring discontinuation of treatment. Characteristics of patients with SIRRs were extracted from the electronic database. Results: Among the 4145 patients, SIRRs occurred in 100 patients: 56 patients with the rituximab cohort (2.8% or 0.7/100 patient-years), 15 with the abatacept cohort (1.5% or 0.6/100 patient-years) and 29 with tocilizumab (1.9% or 1/100 patient-years). No fatal SIRR occurred. A previous mild infusion reaction to non-TNF-targeted biologics was observed in a quarter of patients with SIRRs. After pooled multivariate analysis, positive anti-CCP was associated with a higher risk of SIRR (odds ratio = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.01, 6.17). Absence of concomitant treatment with a synthetic DMARD tended to be associated with a higher risk of SIRR (odds ratio = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.86). Conclusion: In daily practice, SIRRs are slightly more frequent than in clinical trials and rarely life threatening. In common practice, serological status (anti-CCP positivity) and absence of concomitant treatment with a synthetic DMARD increase the risk of SIRR.

Ultrasound study of entheses in psoriasis patients with or without musculoskeletal symptoms: A prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of ultrasonographic enthesitis in psoriasis patients with or without musculoskeletal symptoms and to investigate their evolution under systemic treatments given for the cutaneous symptoms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective bi-centre (rheumatology and dermatology) study over 6months, including psoriasis pts requiring systemic treatment, with or without musculoskeletal symptoms and/or psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Clinical assessment (M0 and M6) included: BASDAI, HAQ, SPARCC, PASI and nail disease. US assessment (M0 and M6) with Grey Scale and PD of 10 entheses was performed by one trained rheumatologist blinded to clinical and biological data, scoring morphological, structural lesions and PD signal. RESULTS: Complete data were obtained on 340 entheses in 34 patients. Twenty-two were asymptomatic (PsO) and 12 symptomatic (PsA). They received conventional treatment and/or biologics. AT BASELINE: US abnormalities were found in 97.1% total population and in 86.4% PsO patients. 95/340 enthesitis were observed, 57/220 in PsO vs 38/120 in PsA (P=0.258). Neither group had PD signal. Presence of 24/90 enthesitis in patients with nail disease vs 33/130 without (P=0.831). AT M6: Twenty-three patients were assessed. US morphological (thickness and hypoechogenicity) abnormalities were improved in PsO (n=13) (P=0.021) and PsA patients (n=10) (P=0.164) with a significant decrease of BASDAI, HAQ, SPARCC. CONCLUSION: We observed a high frequency of US enthesitis in psoriasis patients, with or without musculoskeletal symptoms, requiring systemic treatment. At 6months, US morphological abnormalities were likely to improve. Further studies would be interesting to validate our data and to assess their potential impact on PsA development.

Reproducibility of radiographic hip measurements in adults.

INTRODUCTION: Hip dysplasia may cause pain and premature hip osteoarthritis. Here, our objective was to assess the inter- and intraobserver reproducibility of radiographic hip parameter measurement in adults. METHODS: We used anteroposterior pelvic radiographs and false-profile lateral hip radiographs from 30 individuals (60 hips) enrolled in a prevalence study of hip osteoarthritis. For each hip, two independent observers recorded five parameters twice, at an interval of 1 month. The five parameters were the vertical-center-edge angle (VCE), the anterior center-edge angle (vertical-center-anterior angle, VCA), the acetabular roof angle (HTE), the neck-shaft angle (CC'D), and acetabulum depth (AD). Reproducibility was assessed using Bland-Altman plots, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), and kappa coefficients for the radiographic diagnosis of hip dysplasia using widely accepted cutoffs. RESULTS: Of the 60 hips, 51 were assessable. Intraobserver ICC values ranged from 0.72 to 0.94 and interobserver ICC values from 0.68 to 0.84. Kappa coefficients were between 0.60 and 1.00, except for the VCA angle (κ=0.41). CONCLUSION: In this study, reproducibility of the main radiographic hip parameters was good according to all evaluation methods used. However, CC'D and, to an even greater extent, the VCA angle seemed challenging to measure.