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Following publication of the original article [1], it was brought to our attention that the AOSD Consensus Group was incorrectly tagged and therefore not searchable. The publishers apologize for this error.

Baricitinib is a Janus-kinase (JAK) 1/2 inhibitor, approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs). We report the first real-life experience with baricitinib in a monocentric cohort of unselected RA patients.We enrolled consecutive RA patients starting baricitinib. At baseline and after 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks we assessed the disease activity by composite indices (SDAI, CDAI and DAS28CRP) and ultrasonography, and we recorded any adverse events. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving SDAI remission at week 4.We enrolled 59 patients [(F:M = 50:9, median age 58.1 years (IQR 12.8), median disease duration 144 (IQR 150) months] treated with baricitinib in combination with a csDMARD (52.5%) or monotherapy (47.5%) for a median follow-up of 24 weeks (IQR 36). The 12-month drug retention rate was 74%. At weeks 4, 12, 24 and 48 we observed a significant reduction of DAS28, CDAI and SDAI, global health and pain (p0.001 for all). After 4 weeks of treatment, 12% of patients achieved SDAI remission. Concomitant csDMARDs, previous biological DMARDs, gender, seropositivity and BMI did not affect the efficacy of baricitinib. Baricitinib allowed a significant reduction in prednisone dose after 12 and 24 weeks and a rapid and sustained ultrasound improvement. No serious adverse events, serious infections or cardiovascular events were recorded.Our study confirms the efficacy and safety profile and rapid onset of the effect of baricitinib in RA patients in a real-life setting.

OBJECTIVES: To provide evidence-based recommendations for vaccination against influenza virus and S. pneumoniae in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs). METHODS: A Consensus Committee including physicians with expertise in rheumatic and infectious diseases was established by two Italian scientific societies, Società Italiana di Reumatologia (SIR) and Società Italiana di Malattie Infettive e Tropicali (SIMIT). The experts were invited to develop evidence-based recommendations concerning vaccinations in ARDs patients, based on their clinical status before and after undergoing immunosuppressive treatments. Key clinical questions were formulated for the systematic literature reviews, based on the clinical pathway. A search was made in Medline (via PubMed) according to the original MeSH strategy from October 2009 and a keyword strategy from January 2016 up to December 2017, updating existing EULAR recommendations. Specific recommendations were separately voted and scored from 0 (no agreement with) to 100 (maximal agreement) and supporting evidence graded. The mean and standard deviation of the scores were calculated to determine the level of agreement among the experts' panel for each recommendation. Total cumulative agreement ≥70 defined consensus for each statement. RESULTS: Nine recommendations, based on 6 key clinical questions addressed by the expert committee, were proposed. The aim of this work is to integrate the 2011 EULAR recommendations on vaccination against influenza and S. pneumoniae in ARDs patients. An implementation plan was proposed to improve the vaccination status of these patients and their safety during immunosuppressive treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza and pneumococcus vaccinations are effective and safe in patients with ARDs. More efforts should be made to translate the accumulated evidence into practice.

Recently, research has been focused on the identification of predictors of response to treatment in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The objective of this study was to develop a model to predict the clinical response at 6 months in patients with PsA starting the anti-tumour necrosis factor-α golimumab.This prospective observational study explored a range of factors, including demographic data and baseline characteristics of the disease, measures of disease activity and functional disability, and potential laboratory biomarkers in the prediction of response, defined as the achievement of modified-minimal disease activity (mMDA), to golimumab in PsA patients.We studied 151 PsA patients starting golimumab because of their active disease. After 6 months, the rate of drug persistence on golimumab was 80%, and mMDA was achieved in 44.3% of patients. Using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, lower disease activity in PsA score (DAPSA) at baseline (odds ratio [OR] 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.89-0.96, p0.001) was independent predictor of mMDA at 6 months. High sensitivity C-reactive protein value (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.00-1.13, p=0.026) at baseline also was a predictive factor of mMDA achievement at 6 months in the laboratory-enhanced prediction model. Golimumab was safe and well tolerated.The identification of factors predictive of response to treatment may help in better understanding the response to golimumab and in identifying PsA patients that are most likely to achieve mMDA following therapy with golimumab.

Following publication of the original article [1], it was brought to our attention that the AOSD Consensus Group was incorrectly tagged and therefore not searchable. The publishers apologize for this error.

Sex differences may modify symptoms, disease expression, and treatment effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the link between life impact and sex in psoriatic arthritis (PsA).Remission and Flare in Psoriatic Arthritis (ReFlaP; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03119805) was a study in 14 countries of consecutive adult patients with definite PsA. Participants underwent comprehensive PsA assessment using the following measures: Disease Activity in Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA), Minimal Disease Activity (MDA), and Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID). Disease activity was compared by sex using t-tests or Wilcoxon tests. The association of PsAID with sex was analyzed using hierarchical generalized linear models.Of 458 participants, 50.2% were male and the mean ± SD age was 53.1 ± 12.6 years. The mean ± SD PsA duration was 11 ± 8.2 years, and 51.5% of participants were being treated with biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Women, compared to men, had worse mean ± SD Leeds Enthesitis Index scores (0.8 ± 1.7 versus 0.3 ± 0.9), pain on a numerical rating scale (NRS; range 0-10) (4.7 ± 2.7 versus 3.5 ± 2.7), HAQ DI scores (0.9 ± 0.7 versus 0.5 ± 0.6), fatigue on an NRS (5.2 ± 3 versus 3.3 ± 2.8), and PsAID scores (4.1 ± 2.4 versus 2.8 ± 2.3) (P0.001 for all). Women were also less frequently at treatment target compared to men according to DAPSA (cutoffs of ≤4 for remission and4 and ≤14 for low disease activity; mean ± SD score 16.9 ± 14.9 in women versus 12.6 ± 16.6 in men) and MDA (25.7% versus 50.0%; P0.001 for all) scores. High life impact (PsAID score ≥4) was associated with female sex (odds ratio [OR] 2.3), enthesitis (OR 1.34), tender joints (OR 1.10)(P0.001 for all), and comorbidities (OR 1.22, P = 0.002).High life impact was independently associated with female sex, enthesitis, comorbidities, and tender joints. At treatment target, women had higher life impact compared to men. It is necessary for life impact to become a part of PsA treat-to-target strategies.

Often life-threatening pulmonary fungal infections (PFIs) can occur in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Most of the data concerning PFIs in RA patients come from case reports and retrospective case series. Of the five most widely described PFIs, Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) has rarely been seen outside Japan, pulmonary cryptococcosis has been diagnosed in only a small number of patients worldwide, pulmonary coccidioidomycosis has almost only been observed in endemic areas, the limited number of cases of pulmonary histoplasmosis have mainly occurred in the USA, and the rare cases of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis have only been encountered in leukopenic patients. Many aspects of the prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of PFIs in RA patients remain to be defined, as does the role of each DMARD in increasing the risk of infection, and the possibility of resuming biological and non-biological DMARD treatment after the infection has been cured. The recommendations for the management of PFIs described in this paper are the product of a consensus procedure promoted by the Italian group for the Study and Management of Infections in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases (the ISMIR group).

The aim of the present study was to validate an Italian version of the GRAPPA flare instrument to identify patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with a possible disease flare.This was a cross-sectional study enrolling consecutively PsA patients classified with CASPAR criteria. Inclusion criteria were: age ≥18 years and stable treatment (at least six months of follow-up) with conventional synthetic or biological DMARDs. The flare questionnaire was administered at baseline and within a two-week interval. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Construct validity of flare questionnaire was assessed using the correlation between flare score and disease activity indices, HAQ and serum C-reactive protein. Cohen's κ was performed to assess the agreement level between the patient's perception of flare and the score of the questionnaire. Finally, test-retest was performed to assess the reliability of the instrument.46 PsA patients were enrolled in this study. Of these, 30.4% reported a status of flare of their disease. The questionnaire was internally consistent (alpha=0.81). Moreover, the questionnaire score correlated with the main disease activity indices (Spearman Rho ranging from 0.30 to 0.66; p0.01). The score of flare questionnaire showed a moderate agreement with the perception of flare from the patients (Cohen's κ=0.54). Test-retest reliability showed a good intra-class correlation.This initial validation of the Italian version of the GRAPPA flare instrument was favourable. Our results confirm the utility of this questionnaire in the assessment of flare in PsA.