Peter Grayson, MD, MSc, a tenure track investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, Md., sometimes wonders how his life would have turned out if the band he was playing in during college had signed a recording contract with a major record label. Dr. Grayson has been playing the piano…
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has a higher life impact on women than men, suggesting the need to include life impact as part of the treat-to-target strategy for PsA. This is the finding of a recently published study by Orbai et al., which found female sex independently linked to high PsA life impact.1 The Study The study…
A recent pilot study explores the feasibility of virtual reality-based pain interventions for people with rheumatic conditions.1 Although the work is in its early stages, it may someday represent a new non-pharmacological tool for patients with chronic pain. VR for Treatment R. Swamy Venuturupalli, MD, FACR, is an associate clinical professor of medicine at the…
Reactive arthritis is classically associated with an infectious etiology, such as Salmonella, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Chlamydia or gonorrhea. Clostridium difficile is a rare, and recently recognized, causative agent for this condition.1 Case Presentation The patient is a 21-year-old man with a past medical history significant for hereditary spherocytosis and Crohn’s disease, complicated by an anorectal fistula,…
A proposed biomarker may improve the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Writing in Arthritis & Rheumatology, researchers at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Roche Sequencing Solutions and the University of Toronto say their biomarker, constructed by profiling a comprehensive set of antibodies via high-density peptide array, has high specificity and sensitivity for RA, compared with commercially available assays.1…
Rheumatology has arguably benefited like no other field from the proliferation of an increasingly effective pipeline of therapeutics. These medications have dramatically raised the bar for clinical outcomes for our patients in a way that we could not have envisioned a short generation ago. With such therapeutic progress now reaching a widening circle of rheumatic…
It is an exciting time in the world of vasculitis research. More clinical studies and trials are being conducted now than at any time in history. In the past ten years, four drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies specifically for the treatment of vasculitis: Rituximab…
As founder and president of a large rheumatology group, Howard M. Busch, DO, says the pandemic has had a limited financial effect on many of the network’s clinics. Communication and technology have been key to adapting to the needs of patients and connecting with other providers during this critical time.
With a new Congress and many new legislators in key leadership positions, your support today will help RheumPAC start the year off strong.
As a new year begins, Government Affairs Committee Chair Blair Solow, MD, takes stock of ACR advocacy wins in 2020 and issues to watch in 2021, including workforce issues, continued telemedicine access, prior authorization relief, Medicare reimbursement and drug pricing.