Kaitlyn D’Onofrio

DocwireNews

Here are the top stories recently covered by DocWire News in the rheumatology section. In this edition, read about the latest studies on Eli Lilly&rsquo;s arthritis drug baricitinib, whether autoimmune diseases impact COVID-19 outcomes, the &ldquo;unwritten rules&rdquo; of being a woman surgeon, and a comparison of abatacept versus upadacitinib.Eli Lilly&rsquo;s rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug baricitinib, marketed as Olumiant, has been the subject of several clinical trials in the fight to treat COVID-19. A recent study observed that, when combined with corticosteroids&mdash;compared to corticosteroids alone&mdash;the drug associated with improved pulmonary function in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. As COVID-19 data continue to be published, though, non-COVID-19 studies are also ongoing. <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/the-latest-research-on-baricitinib-eli-lillys-arthritis-drug-used-to-treat-covid-19/">Click here to read highlights on several studies reporting the non-COVID-19 impacts of baricitinib</a>.<a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/do-autoimmune-diseases-impact-covid-19-outcomes/">Patients with autoimmune diseases may be at a greater risk for COVID-19</a>, possibly due to glucocorticoid use, while certain antirheumatic drugs may lower the risk of severe disease, according to a study. Among 62 observational studies with 319,025 total patients with autoimmune diseases, the COVID-19 prevalence was 0.011. A meta-analysis of seven case-controlled studies observed a significantly increased risk for COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases than controls. A meta-regression analysis yielded a significant correlation between glucocorticoids and COVID-19 risk. A clinical outcomes assessment was performed with data from 65 studies encompassing 2,766 patients with autoimmune diseases diagnosed with COVID-19. The hospitalization rate was 0.35, and the mortality rate was 0.066. Glucocorticoids, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), and biologic or targeted synthetic DMARDs (b/tsDMARDs&ndash;csDMARDs combination therapy all appeared to elevate the risk for both hospitalization and mortality.<a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/upadacitinib-versus-abatacept-how-do-these-rheumatoid-arthritis-drugs-compare/">A study that put RA drugs upadacitinib and abatacept</a> head-to-head yielded mixed results: upadacitinib was associated with better disease outcomes, but at the cost of more serious adverse events (AEs). At baseline, Disease Activity Score for 28 joints based on the C-reactive protein level values were 5.70 in the upadacitinib group and 5.88 in the abatacept group; at week 12, the mean changes were &minus;2.52 and &minus;2.00, respectively. A significantly greater proportion of patients in the upadacitinib group achieved remission compared to the abatacept group (30.0% vs. 13.3%; difference, 16.8 percentage points. Serious AEs in the upadacitinib group during treatment included death (n=1), nonfatal stroke (n=1), and venous thromboembolic events (n=2). The upadacitinib group had a greater proportion of patients with elevated hepatic aminotransferase levels compared to the abatacept group.Despite efforts to increase gender diversity in medicine, women remain widely underrepresented in the field&mdash;<a href="https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/interactive-data/active-physicians-sex-and-specialty-2017">notably in surgery</a>, be it general surgery, where women comprise less than 21% of the field, or in subspecialties, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/urban-health-today/urban-health-picks/nearly-70-of-female-orthopedic-surgeons-report-sexual-harassment-during-residency/">orthopedics</a>, where they only make up 5.3% of the field. <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/urban-health-today/urban-health-picks/the-unwritten-rules-of-being-a-woman-surgeon-women-in-surgery-share-their-experiences-with-workplace-conflict/">Recently, women surgeons were interviewed about their experiences with interprofessional conflict.</a> The researchers questioned how this may affect personal, professional, and patient outcomes, as well as potential ways to navigate such conflict. The surgeons discussed the following ways of navigating conflict: relationship management, rapport building, and building social capital. According to the researchers, their responses &ldquo;could be collectively considered the unwritten rules of being a woman surgeon.&rdquo;

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Rheumatology

Here are the top stories recently covered by DocWire News in the rheumatology section. In this edition, read about the latest studies on Eli Lilly’s arthritis drug ...

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