In early December, Sharad Lakhanpal, MBBS, MD, a rheumatologist at Rheumatology Associates in Dallas and past president of the ACR, traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the 2023 Congress of the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR). There he was named an APLAR Master. The award is presented to someone not from APLAR,…
Checking blood levels of commonly used disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) has gained widespread attention in the rheumatology community, even resulting in a recent guidance document from EULAR for biologics.1 Although a highly useful tool, drug level measurement in rheumatology is not without challenges; many of our drugs violate the basic principles of pharmacology that we…
For the 2023 Image Competition, the ACR sought images representing a diverse range of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) or IIM mimics. Unilateral Heliotrope Rash in Anti-MDA-5 Antibody Dermatomyositis These images depict a 36-year-old patient with arthralgias, dyspnea and a unilateral heliotrope rash (image A). A unilateral heliotrope rash is a distinctive, but rare,…
“I’m actually from Iowa. Where do you hail from?” I replied, in the friendliest tone I could muster. Many readers may already know the context, but I’ll rewind a few moments to clear up any ambiguity. I was in clinic and talking with a kind lady with joint pain. While I was in the middle…
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often face many concerns, fears and uncertainties that render “treatment decision making very difficult,” says Jasvinder Singh, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Often these patients, who tend to be women from minority groups, “do not have access to easily understandable…
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, confusion and concern for immunosuppressed patients grew among rheumatologists and patients alike. Research has helped bridge the knowledge gap, and treatment options for COVID-19 have helped ease concerns.
Dedicated to advancing rheumatology education worldwide On Feb. 24, 2024, distinguished professor of medicine and rheumatology Debashish Danda, MBBS, MD, DM, FRCP, was lost to the world following a tragic motor vehicle accident. Dr. Danda was highly respected both in his home country of India and on the international stage for his contributions to advancing…
To work together effectively, clinicians and rheumatology professionals need to understand the roles of every member of the interdisciplinary team. To enhance this understanding, the ARP Interprofessional Practice & Management Committee has undertaken a project to describe the modern roles of members of the interdisciplinary team in a series of fact sheets. The first three…
Promising Results from a Phase 3 Study SAN DIEGO—An investigational liposomal formulation of dexamethasone sodium phosphate (TLC599) for intra-articular injection is being studied to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). George Spencer-Green, MD, MS, chief medical officer of Taiwan Liposome Company (TLC), Cambridge, Mass., presented recent data on this agent in a late-breaking abstract session…
A journey of excellence by a quintessential rheumatologist Robert James Lloyd Jr., MD, FACP, MACR, passed away peacefully on Feb. 4, 2024, at his home in Falls Church, Va. Bob, as he was known to loved ones, was born in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 1943. He grew up in Providence, R.I., where he attended…