ACR2011 and Fibromyalgia

Quite a lot of posters on fibromyalgia! I’ve taken a couple of abstracts as a couple of things might be new to one or another. It’s a very private selection. I won’t advocate some of the wonderdrugs the pharma industry is eager to promote.
Here is the first study.


Incidence and Predictors of Fibromyalgia in an Early Arthritis Cohort.

Yvonne C. Lee and colleagues analyzed data from 1198 patients in the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort to address the question of development of fibromyalgia. Background for this have been prior findings, as the prevalence of fibromyalgia is higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to the general population (20% vs. 3%). Cumulative incidence increased from 0% at baseline to 5.9% at 12 months and 11.8% at 60 months. Female sex, depression, and poor memory were predictive of the development of fibromyalgia. Inflammatory measures were associated with a decreased risk for fibromyalgia, which may reflect physicians’ considering fibromyalgia as a diagnosis in patients with inflammatory arthritis.


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Incidence and Predictors of Fibromyalgia in An Early Arthritis Cohort.
Yvonne C. Lee1, Daniel H. Solomon1, Bing Lu1, Gilles Boire2, Boulos Haraoui3, Carol A. Hitchon4, Janet E. Pope5, J. Carter Thorne6, Edward Keystone7, Diane S. Ferland8 and Vivian Bykerk9.
1Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, 2CHUS-Sherbrooke University, Sherbrooke, QC, 3Institut de Rhumatologie, Montreal, QC, 4University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, 5St. Joseph’s Health Care, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, 6Newmarket, ON, 7Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, 8LaSalle, QC, 9Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Conclusion: The cumulative incidence of FM increased during the first 60 months after diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis, with the greatest increase occurring over the first 18 months. Although female sex, depression and poor memory were predictive of the development of FM, inflammatory measures were associated with a decreased risk for FM. These results may reflect physician decision-making processes when considering a diagnosis of FM in patients with inflammatory arthritis. Future studies are needed to better define the diagnosis of FM in patients with inflammatory arthritis and understand the role of inflammatory measures as a negative predictor of fibromyalgia.