Teaching junior learners, such as medical students and residents, is increasingly important in rheumatology. Given the anticipated shortage of rheumatologists, attracting more trainees to our field and enhancing knowledge of the rheumatic diseases among physicians in other fields are critical to meeting the needs of our patients.1,2 In addition, clinical reasoning is a vital skill…
The prescription is a powerful tool for a physician. As rheumatologists, we prescribe many things—drugs, physical therapy, durable medical equipment—but what about stress reduction? We are very specific about times of day to take medications and in what manner. Patients ask: With or without food? With other medications? Before or after other prescribed medications? If…
Like solving sudoku, planning the ACR annual meeting requires an ability to recognize patterns and employ focused logical thinking, all the while remaining undaunted by the various paths possible to complete a grid from what looks like, at initial glance, an incomprehensible labyrinth of options. The patterns in this situation are not numbers, but sessions,…
Scleromyxedema is a primary cutaneous mucinosis characterized by a diffuse and generalized papular skin eruption of mucinous deposits throughout the upper dermis. In addition to dermatologic manifestations, scleromyxedema may involve the cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal and nervous systems. Dermato-neuro syndrome (DNS) is a rare, severe neurologic complication of scleromyxedema.1,2 The pathogenesis of DNS is unknown, but…
Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, or Sweet syndrome, is an inflammatory disease that classically presents with fever, leukocytosis and tender, erythematous plaques characterized by neutrophilic infiltrates on biopsy. Sweet syndrome has been reported in association with several autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis and sarcoidosis.1 Here, we discuss a case of…
Hurricane Ida intensified in the last two weeks of August 2021, battering the Cayman Islands and Cuba before hitting the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm just before Labor Day weekend.1 At landfall, Ida blasted southern Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 knots, then turned in a north-northwestern direction to hit the New…
Rheumatic Diseases of Childhood: Juvenile Dermatomyositis with Calcinosis Cutis These images depict a 14-year-old boy with a two-year history of proximal muscle weakness affecting both upper and lower limbs, and a skin rash affecting his face. He was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis and developed calcinosis over both legs with skin infection and ulceration. Plain X-ray…
All of us have a professional story to share. We have come from various backgrounds that make us different and allow us to link unique contributions from our professional journey. Some of us dedicate our careers to academics, many serve in private practice, and others have a combination of career experiences. Unfortunately, many of our…
I just didn’t understand. I was an excellent student. I know this is true of most of you. Given the nature of this publication, most of our readership have graduate degrees. This means that collectively, after completing four years of college, we all made the financially dubious decision to pursue post-graduate education, like lemmings jumping…
The ACR and a new Access to Reproductive Health Care Task Force are working to ensure patients with rheumatic disease—particularly women—have access to the medications and treatments they need, including methotrexate, and that rheumatology providers are able to maintain trusting relationships with and advise their patients on all matters relevant to the management of their rheumatic diseases.