SLE is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although arterial stiffness (ArS) is a well-recognized surrogate marker of cardiovascular risk in the general population, its role in SLE is uncertain. We examined the prevalence of ArS in SLE vs healthy controls (HCs), potential ArS predictors and associations with subclinical atherosclerosis.

To longitudinally assess ocular involvement in newly diagnosed giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients by evaluating changes in transorbital ultrasonography (TOS) parameters and their association with systemic vascular inflammation and treatment response.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by protean clinical manifestations that are associated with immune system dysregulation. Of these manifestations, pain and pain-related symptoms such as fatigue, mood disturbance and cognitive impairment are the most common features reported by patients and represent important determinants of quality of life. Nevertheless, the relationship of these symptoms to underlying immune mechanisms is unclear. To advance scientific study and patient-centric care, this Review will consider the origin of pain in SLE and the clinical ramifications. Although many of the inflammatory aspects of SLE, including arthritis, serositis and skin disease, can be associated with nociceptive pain, patients frequently report pain that seems out of proportion to the degree of inflammation. In many of these patients, pain might reflect central and peripheral nervous system sensitization that mediates nociplasticity, a change in brain processing; with nociplasticity, changes in neuronal function and brain connections can amplify the experience of pain and pain-related symptoms. The close interplay between the immune and the nervous systems means that widespread pain and the associated symptoms can be considered as essential features of SLE; these features might share pathogenic mechanisms with other autoimmune diseases and nociplastic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia.

In England, there is a 'hard stop' to weekly tocilizumab (qwTCZ) therapy for GCA; this is currently 12 months but was extended during the COVID-19 pandemic subject to certain criteria for GCA relapse risk. Taking advantage of variation in practice, we aimed to compare outcomes of GCA patients who tapered-TCZ vs those who stopped abruptly (non-taper patients).

Prior research on colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in RA lacked analyses incorporating cardiometabolic or behavioural factors, offered limited subsite-specific data and did not consider RA serostatus. This study assessed the association between RA and subsite-specific CRC risk by RA serostatus.

The impact of virtual care on clinical outcomes, healthcare resources and long-term patient satisfaction will help to inform healthcare providers. We aimed to evaluate the impact of virtual rheumatology care on patients’ clinical outcomes and healthcare utilization.

Paediatric rheumatic diseases (RMDs) are characterized by dysregulation of the immune system functions due to a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. In many cases, children and young people (CYP) with RMDs require long-term pharmacological interventions to control their symptoms, minimize the risk of disease relapse and organ damage and ultimately preserve their quality of life. The past decades have seen significant progress in the expansion of therapeutic options licensed or available off-license for CYP with RMDs, and an unprecedented number of paediatric interventional clinical trials testing new therapies. This review aims to appraise the paediatric rheumatology community on available pharmacological therapies for use in childhood-onset RMDs, including conventional, biologic and targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, immunoglobulins and cell-based therapies, highlighting their known indications, as well as current guidelines and consensus recommendations supporting their use off-license. We review the paediatric dosing regimens available for the treatment of RMDs and other autoimmune conditions, the toxicity profile of available therapeutic agents and provide a comprehensive evaluation of emerging therapies for childhood RMDs, currently tested in clinical trials.