Posts by April M. Jorge, MD
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Risk of Serious Infection Lower With Belimumab Than Oral Immunosuppressants When Treating Nonrenal Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Using a nationwide database to identify 21,481 patients with nonrenal systemic lupus erythematosus, Emma Materne, MD, April Jorge, MD, and colleagues designed a hypothetical randomized trial. They found the risk of serious infection was 21% lower with belimumab than with azathioprine, methotrexate, or mycophenolate.
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Higher Hydroxychloroquine Dose Progressively Increases Incidence of Retinopathy
April M. Jorge, MD, Hyon K. Choi, MD, Yuqing Zhang, ScD, and colleagues conducted a large "real-world" study of the incidence of hydroxychloroquine retinopathy under contemporary dosing and surveillance standards, finding a dose-related risk of 8.6% after 15 years. 90% of cases were mild or moderate.
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Impact of Hydroxychloroquine Dose on Risk of Lupus Flares
Hydroxychloroquine guidelines for lupus recommend a lower dose due to eye safety concerns, but recent findings from Massachusetts General Hospital researchers show that a limited dose yields poorer outcomes.
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COVID-19 Patients with Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases at Substantial Risk of Poor Outcomes
Clinicians in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology found that for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases who develop COVID-19, the risks of death and other severe outcomes have declined since early in the pandemic but remain considerable.
Biography
April Jorge, MD, is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Northwestern University, and she completed her Rheumatology training at Massachusetts General Hospital. Following her Rheumatology fellowship, she joined the Rheumatology Unit within the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology in the Department of Medicine. In addition to seeing patients in the Rheumatology Clinic, Dr. Jorge receives grant funding to conduct clinical epidemiology research in systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) and related diseases. She is a member of the Clinical Epidemiology Program of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology. She also serves as a site investigator and enrolls patients in clinical trials of potential new lupus treatments. Her clinical interests include lupus, other related autoimmune disorders, and women's health issues for patients with rheumatic diseases.
Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology
The Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital provides leading-edge treatment and transformative care to patients with rheumatic disease and autoimmune conditions.