The Rheumatology Podcast

Dr Vanessa Smith, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, and Dr Marwan Bukhari discusses Dr Smith's paper which proposed simple capillaroscopic definitions to describe capillary morphology. Currently different definitions are used for single capillaries across studies; these definitions would allow a common language in the literature. The study, carried out on behalf of the EULAR study group on microcirculation, demonstrated the definitions are reliable for evaluating capillary abnormalities.

Dr. Giovanni Adami (Verona, Italy) joins Dr. Marwan Bukhari to discuss the association between environmental air pollution and rheumatoid arthritis flares. Dr. Adami presents the results of his study, considering the impact of pollution fluctuation on RA flares, as well as clinical and societal implications.

Dr. Chris Wincup asks Dr. Marta Alarcón-Riquelme (GENYO, Spain) about the use of precision medicine in autoimmune diseases. Dr. Alarcón-Riquelme provides a great introduction to precision medicine and current techniques, before moving on to discuss use in future clinical practice.

Dr Mike Backhouse asks Aimie Patience (Glasgow, UK) about her systematic review, which evaluates the methodology and reporting quality of ultrasound studies of Achilles enthesitis in people with psoriatic arthritis.

Dr. Sean Gill and Dr. Chetan Mukhtyar (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, UK) discuss the efficacy of tocilizumab for GCA, based on a 12-month extension of Stone et al.’s landmark clinical trial. Dr Mukhtyar provides an overview of the trial

Prof Seror, Université Paris, France and Dr Marwan Bukhari discuss the recently published study investigating the link between smoking status and the risk of incident RA. The study found that passive exposure to smoking in childhood may increase the risk of RA in future light and non-smokers. Prof Seror highlights the importance of ensuring a tobacco free environment for children, especially when a family history of RA is present.

Digital and Co-Editor Dr James Galloway interviews Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Schmidt (Immanuel Krankenhaus Berlin, Germany) about his review on the use of ultrasound in diagnosing and managing giant cell arteritis (GCA). They discuss the importance of further clinical investigation when dealing with possible cases of GCA, as well as the benefits and challenges of using MRI and PET scans. Prof. Schmidt’s review was published in February 2018.

Dr James Galloway and Dr Samantha Hider, Keele University, UK discuss a paper by Polina Putrik et al. which looked at access to DMARDs. They discuss the findings of the paper which demonstrated that older patients with low levels of education have less access to DMARDs. They also explore the possible implications of these findings on the daily practice of rheumatologists and the importance of looking at health literacy of patients in practice.

Clare Jacklin (NRAS, UK) and Dr. James Galloway (KCL, UK) reflect on findings from the BSR National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA). They discuss the recent Short Report on Ethnicity, the impact of the pandemic on data collection and rheumatology services, and the importance of patient participation and PROMs.

Dr Puja Mehta talks to Dr David Fajgenbaum (University of Pennsylvania, US) about cytokine storm syndromes.

Professor Jaap van Laar interviews Dr Bernard Lauwerys, UCLouvain, Belgium, regarding his study on interferon α kinoids and their effect on B cell activation transcripts in Lupus. The paper discusses the link between the blockade of interferon α and the decreased expression of genes involved in B cell activation.

Dr Marwan Bukhari and Dr John Hanly, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, talk about his paper on the frequency and outcome of lupus nephritis in a prospective SLE inception cohort. In the SLICC inception cohort study, 38% percent of patients developed lupus nephritis within the first 5 years of disease, with 10% of these developing end stage renal disease at 10 year follow-up.

How will patients be affected by the 2022 BSR guideline on the management of paediatric, adolescent and adult patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy? Join junior doctor and IIM patient Dr. Phoebe Rushe, Prof Hector Chinoy, Dr. Alex Oldroyd, Dr. James Lilleker and Dr. Liza McCann in a roundtable discussion hosted by Dr. Marwan Bukhari.

What do you need to know about the 2022 BSR guideline on the management of paediatric, adolescent and adult patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy? Join Prof Hector Chinoy, Dr. Alex Oldroyd, Dr. James Lilleker, Dr. Liza McCann and Dr. Phoebe Rushe in a roundtable discussion hosted by Dr. Marwan Bukhari.

Dr. Mark Russell (King's College, London, UK) joins Dr. Sean Gill to talk about improving outcomes for patients hospitalised with gout. They identify several strategies to improve practice and outcomes, and highlight key gaps in the literature that could be addressed by future research.

Prof. Daniel J. Wallace (Los Angeles, USA) joins Dr. Anastasia Madenidou to talk about safety and clinical activity of atacicept in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Dr James Galloway and Dr Louise Hamilton, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, UK discuss the key findings of the updated BSR guidelines on axial spondyloarthritis and recommendations for treatment. They highlight the importance of considering extra-articular manifestations in treatment and the possibility of switching treatment if anti-TNF treatment fails.

Dr James Galloway and Dr Justin Mason, Imperial College London, UK discuss a paper published in the Journal by John Stone et al. who looked at patients with IgG4 related disease treated with rituximab, to determine if there were potential markers to predict relapse in patients after treatment. They discuss the potential implications for future treatment, drawbacks of the study and possible future research directions for the disease.

Dr Marwan Bukhari talks to Prof Jon Giles, Columbia University, New York, USA, regarding his paper on the associations of muscle mass relative to fat mass with physical function in RA. Prof Giles states both his and his co-authors past research indicates that body composition, low muscle and high fat, is very strongly associated with physical function and, in some cases, more strongly associated with physical dysfunction thank the number of swollen and tender joints a patient has. He highlights the importance of considering muscle and fat mass impact on patients to improve physical function. They discuss the next steps to be taken to build on this research.

Dr Mrinalini Dey and Dr Steven Zhao (Liverpool, UK) discuss the association between comorbidities and disease activity in patients with axial spondyloarthritis, using data from the BSRBR-AS.

Dr. Anastasia Madenidou asks Prof. Christopher Sjöwall (Linköping, Sweden) about de novo lupus nephritis (LN) during treatment with belimumab. They discuss the process of collecting these observational data, the approval of belimumab for use in LN, and implications for clinical practice.

As one of the winners of our 2021 Trainee Publishing Programme, Dr Sreejitha Sreevilasan (Hyderabad, India) talks to Dr David Liew about clinical profile and treatment outcomes in antisynthetase syndrome. They discuss the key findings from Dr Sreevil

Dr. Chris Wincup asks Prof David Isenberg (UCL, UK) about his work to compare IgG vs IgG + IgM anti-double stranded DNA measurement in patients with SLE. They discuss the history of this work, the importance of treating the patient

Dr. Puja Mehta talks to Dr. Grant Schulert (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA) and Dr Christoph Kessel (Universitätsklinikum Münster, Germany) about identifying biomarkers for cytokine storm syndromes in children.

Caroline Groves asks Prof. Frances Williams (Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, UK) about the association between chronic widespread pain and the gut microbiome.

Prithvi Gaur and Dr. Iona Thorne (Chelsea and Westminster NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust) discuss the 2019 MHRA drug safety update, which includes pregnancy prevention guidance for women treated with potentially teratogenic drugs.

Dr. Latika Gupta and Dr. Julie Paik (Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, USA) discuss the treatment of calcinosis in refractory dermatomyositis with tofacitinib monotherapy.

Dr. Sheilla Achieng talks to Dr. Sara Booth (Emeritus consultant, University of Cambridge, UK) about the impact of NHS employment practice on people with SLE.

Dr Marwan Bukhari and Dr Chris Rooney (University of Leeds) discuss the Editor’s Choice for July. This study examines the gut microbiome of anti-CCP positive individuals at risk of RA with a long term view to identifying new targets for preventative

Dr Sheilla Achieng and Dr Gouri Koduri (Southend, UK) discuss patient perceptions of comorbidities in inflammatory arthritis.

Dr Pankti Mehta asks Dr Mark McClure (Cambridge, UK) about his recent study, which aimed to develop relapse and infection prediction models for long-term rituximab therapy in ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Dr Marwan Bukhari talks to Prof. David Jayne (Cambridge, UK), Dr Rona Smith (Cambridge, UK) and Dr Allyson Egan (Cambridge, UK) about the recent European Vasculitis Society (EUVAS) supplement.

Dr Puja Mehta and Dr Peter Grayson (NIH, Bethesda, MD, US) discuss VEXAS syndrome.

Dr Puja Mehta talks to Prof. Paul Emery (Leeds, UK) about his recent systematic review, which summarises the existing data on the impact of antirheumatic therapies on COVID-19 vaccine response.

Dr Marwan Bukhari talks to Paul Amlani-Hatcher (NEIAA Patient Panel Chair) and Dr James Galloway (King’s College, London) about findings from the BSR National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit (NEIAA).

Dr Anastasia Madenidou asks Dr Alfred Kim (Washington University, St. Louis, US) about his recent paper, which explores intentional medical non-adherence and physician-patient interactions in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Dr Chris Wincup talks to Prof. Elaine Yacyshyn and Dr Whitney Hung (University of Alberta, Canada) about an interesting case of immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

Dr Mike Backhouse talks to Christopher Joyce (London, UK) and Prof. Keith Rome (Southampton, UK) about care of foot and ankle problems in people with inflammatory arthritis.

Dr Marwan Bukhari asks Dr Ioannis Parodis (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) about his recent paper, which examined the impact of high BMI on health-related quality of life in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. They discuss the main findings from the study, clinical implications, and possible future research. This paper is the Editor’s Choice for March 2021.

Dr Eunice Victoria Co asks Dr Josep Ribalta (Reus, Spain) about his recent study, where endothelial cells were incubated with low-density lipoprotein from active vs. inactive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Their discussion includes the key findings from the study, how best to measure endothelial cell function, and the team’s future research.

Dr Puja Mehta asks Dr Elizabeth Price (Great Western Hospital, Swindon, UK) about the upcoming BSR Sjögren’s syndrome guideline. Dr Price explains why a new guideline is needed, the challenges the guideline group hopes to address, and where to access more information about Sjögren’s syndrome.

Dr Herman Tam asks Dr Matthew Basiaga (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, US) about his recent paper, which applied the 2016 ACR/EULAR classification criteria to a cohort of patients with paediatric Sjögren’s syndrome. They discuss the key findings from the study, how to develop better paediatric criteria, and important implications for clinicians.

Prof. Hector Chinoy (Manchester, UK), Dr Jesús Loarce-Martos (Madrid, Spain) and Dr James Lilleker (Manchester, UK) talk to Dr Marwan Bukhari about their recent paper. They discuss the history of myositis classification criteria, results from their study, and implications for subtyping idiopathic inflammatory myopathy in clinical practice.

Dr Ai Lyn Tan talks to Dr Rosemary Hollick (Aberdeen, UK) about her recent paper, which examines the feasibility and acceptability of telephone-based cognitive behavioural therapy for patients with axial spondyloarthritis. They discuss who might best engage with and benefit from this intervention, plus the importance of working with patient partners. This is a Rheumatology Advances in Practice podcast.

Dr Marwan Bukhari talks to Dr Fiona Pearce (Nottingham, UK) about her recent paper, which examines the risk of death among people with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss the study’s main findings, questions for future research, and key implications for rheumatology practice.

Dr Chris Wincup asks Dr Filipa Farinha (London, UK) about her recent paper, which compares presentation, outcomes and predictors of survival in patients with membranous and proliferative lupus nephritis. They discuss the key findings, important implications for clinical practice, and Dr Farinha’s future research.

Dr Marwan Bukhari asks Dr Neil Basu (Glasgow, UK) about his recent paper. Using data from the BSRBR-AS, the study aimed to quantify and predict the effect of anti-TNF therapy on axSpA-related fatigue. This paper is the Editor’s Choice for November.

Dr Richard Conway (Dublin, Ireland) and Dr Elena Nikiphorou (London, UK) interview Dr Carlos Fernández-Díaz (Santander, Spain) about his recent paper, which examines the efficacy of abatacept in interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Their discussion includes the study’s key learning points, how this research may influence clinical practice, and future research plans.

Dr Marwan Bukhari asks Dr William Tillett (Bath, UK) and Dr Laura Coates (Oxford, UK) about the upcoming BSR psoriatic arthritis guideline. They explain why a new guideline is needed, how it will differ from others, and also offer some insight into the scope, which will consider PsA domains, comorbidities, therapy selection, and treatment strategies.