Staphylococcus aureus sepsis in rheumatoid arthritis.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of infection. In this study, we determined the risk of and risk factors for Staphyococcus aureus (S. aureus) sepsis in RA. We assembled a retrospective nested case-control subset of RA patients with S. aureus sepsis from the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Medical Informatics database, confirmed the diagnoses, and collected data electronically and by chart review. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify independent risk factors for S. aureus sepsis, with risk expressed as odds ratios (ORs). We extracted data on the length of hospitalization and 30-day and 1-year mortality from the Medical Informatics database for all cases and controls. There were 48 confirmed S. aureus sepsis cases and 232 confirmed controls in the RA cohort. In multivariate analysis, indwelling central venous catheter (OR 15.97; 95 % CI 5.09-50.10; p < 0.01) and congestive heart failure (OR 2.89; 95 % CI 1.26-6.63; p = 0.01) were independently associated with risk of S. aureus sepsis, while treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), both biologic and non-biologic, was not. S. aureus sepsis was associated with increased 30-day and 1-year mortality (OR 7.37; 95 % CI 2.86-19.0; p < 0.01 for 30-day and OR 5.24; 95 % CI 2.51-10.94; p < 0.01 for 1-year mortality) and longer hospitalization (p < 0.01). Treatment with biologic DMARDs was not associated with longer hospitalization (p = 0.89). Indwelling central venous catheters and congestive heart failure increased the risk of S. aureus sepsis in this observational cohort of patients with RA. Treatment with biologic and non-biologic DMARDs did not increase this risk.

Characteristics of Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis Receiving Secukinumab and Reasons for Initiation: A US Retrospective Medical Chart Review.

INTRODUCTION: Secukinumab is a fully human anti-interleukin 17A monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in the United States. Few studies have investigated prescribing patterns among rheumatologists who have initiated secukinumab for the treatment of patients with PsA in real-world settings. This US medical chart review describes clinical and treatment characteristics of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who were prescribed secukinumab and rheumatologist-reported reasons for prescribing secukinumab in clinical practice. METHODS: This US medical chart review included patients with physician-diagnosed PsA aged ≥ 18 years initiating secukinumab after January 15, 2016. Eligible rheumatologists used online forms to collect patient demographics, disease characteristics, comorbidity profiles, and treatment histories before or on the date of the first secukinumab prescription recorded in the medical chart. Information on reasons for secukinumab prescription and dosing was also collected. RESULTS: Medical charts from 153 patients with PsA who initiated secukinumab were reviewed by 46 rheumatologists between July 7, 2017, and August 11, 2017. Overall, 53.6% of patients were male, mean (standard deviation) age was 47.3 (11.5) years, and 24.8% were biologic naive. The most common reasons for secukinumab prescription among biologic-naive and biologic-experienced patients, respectively, were efficacy/effectiveness of secukinumab (84.2%) and failure of other prior biologics (80.9%). Nearly all patients (94.1%) received a loading regimen, including 150 mg every week (32.7%) and 300 mg every week (61.4%). Overall, 145 patients (94.8%) received ≥ 1 maintenance dose, of whom 49.7% received 150 mg every 4 weeks and 50.3% received 300 mg every 4 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: At the time of the chart review, most patients with PsA who initiated secukinumab were biologic experienced, although one-quarter received secukinumab as first-line biologic therapy. Efficacy/effectiveness of secukinumab and failure of other biologics were the most common reasons for initiating secukinumab. FUNDING: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ. Plain language summary available for this article.

Characterization of Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis Receiving Secukinumab and Reasons for Initiating Treatment: A US Physician Survey and Retrospective Medical Chart Review.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize US patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who were treated with secukinumab and to assess rheumatologist-reported reasons for prescribing treatment in clinical practice. METHODS: This descriptive analysis of data from a US retrospective medical chart review included patients aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with AS who initiated secukinumab after 15 January 2016. Eligible rheumatologists used online forms to collect patient demographics, disease characteristics, co-morbidity profile, and treatment history prior to or on the index date, defined as the date of the first secukinumab prescription recorded in the medical chart. Information on physician-level characteristics and reasons for secukinumab prescription and dosing were also collected. RESULTS: Medical charts from 78 patients with AS who initiated secukinumab were reviewed by 25 rheumatologists between 7 July 2017 and 11 August 2017. Overall, 76.9% of patients were male, mean (SD) age was 39.8 (10.8) years, and 34.6% were biologic naïve. The most common reasons for secukinumab initiation among biologic-naïve and biologic-experienced patients, respectively, were efficacy/effectiveness (77.8%) and failure of other prior biologics (84.3%). Nearly all patients (94.9%) received a loading dose, including 150 mg every week (39.7%), 300 mg every week (53.8%), and other (1.3%). Overall, 73 patients (93.6%) received ≥ 1 maintenance secukinumab dose, of whom 56.2% and 43.8% received 150 mg and 300 mg, respectively, every 4 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: In this US medical chart review of patients with AS who initiated secukinumab, approximately one-third were biologic naïve, and secukinumab efficacy/effectiveness and failure of other biologics were the most common reasons for initiating secukinumab.

Change in fibrosis score as a predictor of mortality among HIV-infected patients with viral hepatitis.

Noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis, measured at baseline, have been shown to predict liver-related mortality. It remains unknown if a change in the value of the scores over time predicts mortality in patients with HIV and viral hepatitis. In this retrospective study, survival in HIV/hepatitis B virus (HBV; n = 67), HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV; n = 43), and HIV/HBV/HCV (n = 41) patients was examined using Kaplan-Meier life table analysis. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and FIB-4 scores, two noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis, were calculated at baseline and at last available clinical follow-up to determine the change in fibrosis score. Factors associated with mortality were assessed by Cox proportional hazards, including the change in the noninvasive marker score between the two time points. All-cause mortality was determined by Social Security Death Index and chart review. Sixty-seven were coinfected with HIV/HBV, 43 with HIV/HCV, and 41 were triply infected (HIV/HBV/HCV). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed similar survival for the three groups at 7 years of follow-up (p = 0.10). However, median length of follow-up was lower in HIV/HCV (60.5; range 0-102) compared to HIV/HBV (75.7; 12.3-126.5) and HIV/HBV/HCV (80.0; 2.7-123) months, respectively, p = 0.02. Baseline fibrosis score (p = 0.002), an increase in the value for noninvasive measurements for fibrosis (p < 0.001), and the presence of HIV/HCV coinfection (p = 0.041) were each associated with higher risk for mortality. Baseline fibrosis score (p = 0.03) and an increase in FIB-4 score (p = 0.05) were independent predictors of all-cause mortality, but liver-related mortality was not evaluated. In this study, baseline fibrosis score was predictive of 7-year all-cause mortality. Further studies are needed in a prospective cohort to evaluate the predictive value of monitoring changes in fibrosis scores over time to predict mortality in patients with viral hepatitis.

Is there a higher genetic load of susceptibility loci in familial ankylosing spondylitis?

OBJECTIVE: Several genetic risk variants for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) have been identified in genome-wide association studies. Our objective was to examine whether familial AS cases have a higher genetic load of these susceptibility variants. METHODS: Overall, 502 AS patients were examined, consisting of 312 patients who had first-degree relatives (FDRs) with AS (familial) and 190 patients who had no FDRs with AS or spondylarthritis (sporadic). All patients and affected FDRs fulfilled the modified New York criteria for AS. The patients were recruited from 2 US cohorts (the North American Spondylitis Consortium and the Prospective Study of Outcomes in Ankylosing Spondylitis) and from the UK-Oxford cohort. The frequencies of AS susceptibility loci in IL-23R, IL1R2, ANTXR2, ERAP-1, 2 intergenic regions on chromosomes 2p15 and 21q22, and HLA-B27 status as determined by the tag single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs4349859 were compared between familial and sporadic cases of AS. Association between SNPs and multiplex status was assessed by logistic regression controlling for sibship size. RESULTS: HLA-B27 was significantly more prevalent in familial than sporadic cases of AS (odds ratio 4.44 [95% confidence interval 2.06, 9.55], P = 0.0001). Furthermore, the AS risk allele at chromosome 21q22 intergenic region showed a trend toward higher frequency in the multiplex cases (P = 0.08). The frequency of the other AS risk variants did not differ significantly between familial and sporadic cases, either individually or combined. CONCLUSION: HLA-B27 is more prevalent in familial than sporadic cases of AS, demonstrating higher familial aggregation of AS in patients with HLA-B27 positivity. The frequency of the recently described non-major histocompatibility complex susceptibility loci is not markedly different between the sporadic and familial cases of AS.