How will big data mined from huge sample sizes in research cohorts, electronic health records, personal health data (e.g., heart rates from Fitbits) and insurance claim data sets change the way physicians interpret something as simple as complete blood count (CBC) test results for individual patients? According to the authors of a paper in the…
A confluence of advances in knowledge and technology is closing in on the day when therapies for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be specifically targeted to the precise variant and stage of disease. “Precision medicine is in the future, and not the distant future but more in the immediate future,” says Harris R. Perlman,…
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be typed, grouped and categorized in different ways, and subgroup identification could help guide future research and treatment strategies based on which subtypes respond to which treatment. A new study explored an approach associating gene expression profiling with histologic analysis of synovium samples to define RA subtypes and then examined how…
Palindromic rheumatism (PR) was first described in 1944 as “unique in its nature of recurrent, transient episodes of excruciatingly painful inflammation of articular and periarticular tissues, followed by periods without symptoms.”1 Unfortunately, it is becoming evident this entity is more frequent than we thought.2 PR is easily ignored or misdiagnosed due to its character (i.e.,…
Relapsing polychondritis (RPC) is a systemic and, in some cases, fatal disease. Dyspnea with findings of small airway disease—even in the absence of the more commonly associated tracheobronchial abnormalities or pathognomonic clinical findings, such as saddle nose and cauliflower ear—may be presenting signs and symptoms of relapsing polychondritis. Below, we present a case demonstrating that…
Synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome is a heterogeneous, inflammatory, musculoskeletal disease. The disease is an insidious, sterile osteitis with associated skin and synovial inflammation.1 Diagnosis can prove challenging, but a thorough clinical history, high clinical suspicion and imaging techniques can help clinch it. The below case reveals a rare, fulminant presentation of…
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are increasingly used to treat a variety of malignancies, leading to better cancer treatment outcomes and patient survival. However, the emergence of autoimmunity has been a major adverse event resulting from ICI use. Below, we describe a patient who experienced a flare of preexisting psoriasis and new-onset severe psoriatic arthritis after…
With the wind in her hair and a smile on her face, a young girl flies through the air on the zip line at Camp Wekandu. She waves to her fellow campers on the ground and offers a thumbs up before the ride ends and one of the camp counselors lowers her from the zip…
Hazel L. Breland, PhD, ORT/L, FAOTA, CLA, assumes the role of ARHP president in October. She is the 50th person to hold that honor, and the organization’s first African-American leader. “Several things came together at one time that I didn’t necessarily think about when I was asked what my aspirations in the organization were in…
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a leading cause of death among young women, according to an August 2018 study in Arthritis & Rheumatology.1 To help determine where SLE ranks among causes of death, Eric Y. Yen, MD, and Ram Raj Singh, MD, conducted a population-based study using nationwide mortality counts for all female residents of…