Clinical Update

Topics and dates for an expanded nationwide education series, Lupus: Learn from the Experts, were announced by the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA).

In patients with lupus nephritis who have a response to induction therapy, mycophenolate mofetil is superior to azathioprine in maintaining a renal response to treatment and in preventing relapse, according to the results of a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Osteoporosis would develop in fewer than 10% of older, postmenopausal women during rescreening intervals of about 15 years for those with normal bone density or mild osteopenia, 5 years for those with moderate osteopenia, and 1 year for those with advanced osteopenia, according to a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Annual cumulative incidences of partial and total knee arthroplasty increased rapidly over a 27-year period among 30- to 59-year-olds in Finland, according to a study in Arthritis & Rheumatism, an American College of Rheumatology publication.

The percentage and absolute number of ambulatory physician office visits resulting in referrals to other physicians has grown substantially in the United States, according to researchers in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.

An overview of available pain questionnaires provides both clinicians and researchers with a quick reference for comparing and selecting the most appropriate adult pain assessment tool for their purpose.

Persons as young as 45 to 64 years will account for more than half of new diagnoses of knee osteoarthritis over the next decade as the rate of disease in younger persons increases.

Close to half (41%) of patients with Dupuytren contracture are not receiving prompt referral to a specialist, visiting their general practitioner (GP)/doctor almost 3 times before being referred, according to a Pfizer UK Limited survey of 700 GPs from 6 European countries.

Intermezzo (zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablets) has received FDA approval for use as needed to manage insomnia characterized by middle-of-the-night waking followed by difficulty in returning to sleep.

Changes in pain severity can predict subsequent depression severity, according to a recent study in The Journal of Pain, the official publication of the American Pain Society (APS).

Although hip and knee arthroplasty often are successful in restoring function and minimizing pain in patients with osteoarthritis, venous thromboembolic disease—encompassing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)

The theme of this year's World Arthritis Day—celebrated every year by the American College of Rheumatology and other organizations—is "Move to Improve."