Despite their rarity, Lyme disease and Whipple\'s disease are of significant importance in rheumatology, as both can manifest as chronic arthritis, presenting challenges in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory arthropathies. In Lyme disease, arthritis typically emerges as a late manifestation, usually occurring six months after the onset of erythema migrans. The predominant presentation involves mono- or oligoarthritis of large joints, with a chronic or remitting-recurrent course. Even with appropriate antimicrobial treatment, arthritis may persist due to inadequate immunological control triggered by the disease. In contrast, Whipple\'s disease may present with a migratory and intermittent seronegative poly- or oligoarthritis of large joints, preceding classic gastrointestinal symptoms by several years. Both disorders, particularly Whipple\'s disease, can be misdiagnosed as more common autoimmune rheumatic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Epidemiology is crucial in suspecting and diagnosing Lyme disease, as the condition is transmitted by ticks prevalent in specific areas of the United States, Europe, and Asia. On the contrary, the causative agent of Whipple\'s disease is widespread in the environment, yet invasive disease is rare and likely dependent on host genetic factors. In addition to erythema migrans in Lyme disease and gastrointestinal manifestations in Whipple\'s disease, neurological and cardiac involvement can further complicate the course of both. This article offers a comprehensive review of the epidemiological, pathophysiological, clinical, and therapeutic aspects of both diseases.

A subset of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who fail multiple biologic therapies are deemed to have \"difficult-to-treat\" (D2T) RA. In 2021, a European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) task force proposed a clinical definition of D2T RA. Here we review RA phenotypes and clinical assessment of RA, propose a different definition of D2T RA, discuss possible D2T RA risk factors, and summarize existing literature on the management of D2T RA.
High disease activity at the time of diagnosis or prior to treatment with a biologic is associated with the development of D2T RA. Prolonged time from diagnosis to beginning treatment has been consistently associated with the development of D2T RA. Other clinical factors such as burden of disease, extraarticular disease, obesity, smoking, pain, fatigue, and psychological conditions have inconsistent associations with D2T RA according to current literature. D2T RA is a relatively new concept that represents an area of great need for research regarding the characterization of those with the disease as well as how best to treat the disease. With this gained knowledge, rheumatologists will be able to better identify patients at the time of diagnosis that are likely to develop D2T RA to help guide management.

暂无摘要。

Clinical visits are a fundamental aspect of rheumatic disease care, but recommendations for appropriate visit frequencies are largely absent from guidelines, scarcely studied, and inconsistently reported. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence pertaining to visit frequencies for major rheumatic diseases.
This systematic review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Title/abstract screening, full-text screening, and extraction were carried out by 2 independent authors. Annual visit frequencies were either extracted or calculated and stratified by disease type and country of study. Weighted mean annual visit frequencies were calculated.
A total of 273 relevant manuscript records were screened, and 28 were included after applying selection criteria. The included studies were equally divided between US and non-US and were published between 1985 and 2021. Most (n = 16) focused on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; n = 5), and fibromyalgia (FM; n = 4). For RA, the average annual visit frequencies were 5.25 for US rheumatologists, 4.80 for US non-rheumatologists, 3.29 for non-US rheumatologists, and 2.74 for non-US non-rheumatologists. For SLE, annual visit frequencies for non-rheumatologists were much higher than for US rheumatologists (12.3 versus 3.24). For FM, annual visit frequencies were 1.80 for US rheumatologists and 0.40 for non-US rheumatologists. There was a decreasing trend of visit frequency to rheumatologists from 1982 to 2019.
Evidence for rheumatology clinical visits was limited and heterogeneous on a global scale. However, general trends suggest more frequent visits in the US and less frequent visits in recent years.

The majority of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have cutaneous manifestations at some point in their disease course. The skin findings in SLE are classified as SLE-specific or SLE-nonspecific based on histopathologic findings. SLE-specific skin diseases include chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), subacute CLE, and acute CLE. There are subsets of skin lesions within each group and the likelihood of associated SLE varies among them. SLE-nonspecific lesions are more common in patients with SLE and tend to coincide with active systemic disease. SLE-nonspecific lesions may be seen as a feature of another disease process, including other connective tissue diseases. It is important for the rheumatologist to be familiar with the spectrum of cutaneous diseases in SLE to help prognosticate the likelihood of systemic disease and to ensure patients receive timely dermatologic care with the goal of controlling disease activity to prevent damage.

Understanding factors that influence prescribing of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) will inform strategies to optimise care of people with inflammatory arthritis. We performed a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies to explore these factors. Inclusion criteria were: use of qualitative or mixed methods; rheumatologist, nurse or pharmacist perspectives; prescription of any DMARD (conventional [cs], targeted synthetic [ts], biologic [b], biosimilars) and/or glucocorticoids; in any healthcare setting in any country. MEDLINE, Embase and EBSCOhost CINAHL Plus were searched from inception to 15 June 2021. Pairs of review authors independently identified studies for inclusion, assessed methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist, and extracted and thematically synthesised data. Confidence in synthesis themes was evaluated using the GRADE Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (CERQual) approach. We included 15 studies involving 716 clinicians (683 rheumatologists, 27 nurses, 6 pharmacists) across 10 countries, all focusing on management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Six themes were identified: Rheumatologist prescribing is influenced by patients\' characteristics, preferences, symptoms and negative responses to medication; Rheumatologist knowledge, experience, habits and subjective judgements are strong drivers of prescribing behaviour; High demands on consultation time impede shared decision-making; Costs and complexity of medication funding arrangements limit prescribing options; Clinicians recognise the importance of providing patient education about medication options; and Clinicians value colleagues\' opinions and support to inform prescribing decisions. The majority of themes were graded as moderate confidence (n  =  4), reflecting they are likely to reasonably represent the factors influencing prescribing of DMARDs to people with RA. Quality improvement strategies that address these factors are likely to support best practice pharmacologic management of RA and may be potentially applicable to other types of inflammatory arthritis. High demand on consultation time and complexity of medication funding arrangements are system factors that may or may not be amenable to change. Easily accessible living national guidelines which include lay summaries and treatment algorithms to support prescribing decisions may address some of the themes.

To critically appraise study designs evaluating spondyloarthritis (SpA) phenotypes in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A systematic literature review of PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, Cinahl, Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases was performed. Articles published from January 2000 - March 2020 were included if they evaluated the prevalence/incidence of musculoskeletal disease in cohorts of IBD patients. Most of the 69 included studies were clinic based (54/69, 78%), single center (47/69, 68%) and cross-sectional (60/69, 87%). The median prevalence of axial and peripheral SpA in IBD was 5% (range 1 - 46%) and 16% (range 1 - 43%), respectively. In 38 studies that evaluated axial disease in prospectively enrolled patients, inflammatory back pain was analyzed in 53%. SpA classification criteria were used in 68% and imaging was performed in 76%. In 35 studies that evaluated peripheral disease in prospectively enrolled patients, SpA classification criteria were used in 46%. A physical exam was performed in 74%, and it was performed by a rheumatologist in 54% of studies with a physical exam. Sub-phenotypes of peripheral SpA (mono- or oligo-arthritis, polyarthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis) were variably reported. Seventy-four percent of studies did not mention whether osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia had been assessed or excluded. The spectrum of SpA phenotypes in IBD patients remains incompletely characterized. Future studies should focus on standardizing the variables collected in IBD-SpA cohorts and defining musculoskeletal phenotypes in IBD-SpA in order to better characterize this disease entity and advance the field for clinical and research purposes.

暂无摘要。

To estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from international population-based studies and investigate the influence of prevalence definition, data sources, classification criteria, and geographical area on RA prevalence.
A search of ProQuest, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and EMBASE was undertaken to identify population-based studies investigating RA prevalence between 1980 and 2019. Studies were reviewed using the Joanna Briggs Institute approach for the systematic review and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
Sixty studies met the inclusion criteria. There was a wide range of point prevalence reported (0.00-2.70%) with a mean of 0.56% (SD 0.51) between 1986 and 2014, and a mean period prevalence of 0.51% (SD 0.35) between 1955 and 2015. RA point and period prevalence was higher in urban settings (0.69% vs 0.48%) than in rural settings (0.54% vs 0.25%). An RA diagnosis validated by rheumatologists yielded the highest period prevalence of RA and was observed in linked databases (0.80%, SD 0.1).
The literature reports a wide range of point and period prevalence based on population and method of data collection, but average point and period prevalence of RA were 51 in 10,000 and 56 in 10,000, respectively. Higher urban vs rural prevalence may be biased due to poor case findings in areas with less healthcare or differences in risk environment. The population database studies were more consistent than sampling studies, and linked databases in different continents appeared to provide a consistent estimate of RA period prevalence, confirming the high value of rheumatologist diagnosis as classification criteria.

OBJECTIVE: Most recommendations for the use of methotrexate (MTX) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are issued by developed countries. It is unknown whether they are relevant globally. We reviewed existing recommendations on the use of MTX for the treatment of RA and summarized areas of agreement that could be relevant for least developed countries (LDCs).
METHODS: Electronic databases and registries were searched for recommendations on MTX use in RA, duplicates were eliminated, and the most updated version adopted when there were several versions on the same recommendation. Reviewers used the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument for study quality assessment. Similarities and discrepancies of recommendations are reported.
RESULTS: After deduplication, 1693 unique citations were found; 25 full texts were screened and 12 included in the narrative synthesis. Average scores for the AGREE II domains ranged from 33.3 to 83.3%. Recommendations targeted rheumatologists and health care providers involved in RA care. Most covered some but not all of the following areas: baseline \"pre-MTX\" assessment (7/12;58%), prescription of MTX (10/12;83.3%), management of MTX side effects (6/12;50%), and special considerations (e.g., peri-operative management) (8/12; 66.7%). Recommendations agreed on baseline tests prior to starting MTX, monitoring, and need for folic acid supplementation. These aspects can serve as the foundation for the development of MTX recommendations relevant to LDCs. Recommendations disagreed on the MTX starting dose, optimal route, titration, and intervals to monitor toxicity.
CONCLUSIONS: Existing recommendations do not uniformly address all aspects related to the use of MTX and disagree in relevant aspects of MTX use. Adaptations to these recommendations are needed to facilitate their implementation in LDCs. Key Points • This paper summarizes current recommendations on the use of methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. • Areas of agreement between recommendations include the following: pre-methotrexate patient assessment, need for folic acid supplementation, and toxicity monitoring. • Areas of disagreement relate to methotrexate starting and maximal dose, titration, and frequency of assessments.