RheumMadness is an online tournament in which a bracket of teams, representing key learning concepts in rheumatology, compete against each other in a series of head-to-head matchups, much like basketball teams in the NCAA’s March Madness. The 2023 tournament theme was The All Star Season. Each team represented one all star article competing to be…
Thromboembolic events are major contributors to the morbidity and mortality of patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA), but little is known about how GCA may increase the risk of ischemic strokes. GCA-related stroke is described as an ischemic cerebral infarct occurring within three to four weeks of GCA diagnosis and treatment. It occurs in 3–7%…
As patients with rheumatic musculoskeletal disease age, the number of medications they take may increase (i.e., polypharmacy), which can result in unwanted side effects and serious adverse effects. Lee et al. offer considerations and insights into caring for aging patients in a polypharmacy situation to better meet their health and lifestyle needs.
Marchand et al. sought to examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and hip osteoarthritis (OA) in women. By analyzing data from the Nurses’ Health Study cohort in the U.S., the researchers concluded that an association may be observed between higher alcohol consumption and greater incidence of total hip replacement due to OA.
Your patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) isn’t responding well enough to methotrexate, and you both agree it’s time to consider a biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). But which one should you choose? In a treat-to-target era, we’re fortunate to have a variety of RA therapies at our disposal. Clinical practice guidelines from…
Fractures in Patients with SSc By Zsuzsanna McMahan, MD, MHS Why was this study done? To minimize disability due to systemic sclerosis (SSc), it’s important to prevent and manage complications. Many SSc complications and related medications may increase the risk for osteoporosis and fracture. We sought to identify modifiable risk factors for fracture in patients…
During a series of interviews with patients who have systemic lupus erythematosus, issues related to medication side effects, supplement use, depression and support groups arose, as well as concerns about race and activities of daily living. The interviews gave me a better understanding of what patients with lupus wish their physicians knew. I am grateful…
The 12-month results of the MIRROR study show pegloticase co-administered with methotrexate is beneficial for patients with uncontrolled gout.
Discussions between clinicians and their patients about complementary aspects of their care just got easier with the release of the 2022 ACR Guideline for Exercise, Rehabilitation, Diet, and Additional Integrative Interventions for Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Using data from the U.K.’s Health Improvement Network, a primary care database, Wei et al. examined whether urate-lowering therapy (ULT) in a treat-to-target approach for patients with gout reduces the risk of fracture.