Volume 15 Issue 7, July 2019

The use of NSAIDs in rheumatology could be improved by an appropriate risk scoring system that accounts for adverse events such as bleeding and thrombosis. Such a risk score has now been developed using data from the PRECISION trial, but is this score ready to be applied in clinical practice?

¹⁸F-FDG-PET is not currently recommended for use in the diagnosis of cranial giant cell arteritis (GCA). A new study has compared ¹⁸F-FDG-PET with temporal artery biopsy and clinical diagnosis as gold standards, but is ¹⁸F-FDG-PET accurate enough to be used on temporal arteries?

Pregnancy can affect the underlying disease and vice versa, and drug therapy may need to be altered before, during and after pregnancy. With careful planning, monitoring and treatment, most women with inflammatory rheumatic diseases can have successful pregnancies.

A series of successive failures of new therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in clinical trials has left clinicians with limited options to treat this disease. Could any of the therapies currently in development offer hope for patients with SLE?

Hyperuricaemia is a risk factor for gout, and mouse models of this condition can help dissect the underlying regulatory mechanisms. However, these models come with both advantages and disadvantages, and interpreting and comparing data from these models can be challenging.

The pleiotropic cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammatory disorders. This Review discusses MIF biology and signalling, its mechanisms of action and its involvement in rheumatic diseases, including opportunities for targeted therapies.

Establishing suitable outcome measures is an important goal for the classification and monitoring of patients with early knee osteoarthritis. This Perspectives article highlights various outcome measures that have potential use in clinical and/or research settings for early knee osteoarthritis.