Doebl et al. compared the effect of symptoms and the healthcare use of people with fibromyalgia with those who fulfilled the criteria for fibromyalgia but had not been diagnosed and those with chronic pain. They found patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia reported the poorest healthcare experiences and were more likely than other study participants to be unemployed due to health issues. Their findings reveal an urgent need exists for a model of care for patients with fibromyalgia.
McMahan et al. examined how abnormal gastrointestinal (GI) transit may contribute to GI severity and symptoms in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). About 90% of people with SSc have GI tract involvement, and understanding the connection between GI symptoms, their severity and abnormal GI transit may permit targeted therapeutic approaches for these patients.
When it comes to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and cardiovascular events (CVEs), the rheumatology community is woefully lacking in information, say researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) David Geffen School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Their recent work on biomarkers associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events in women with…
Lupus & Perinatal Outcomes Adverse perinatal outcomes before & after diagnosis with systemic lupus erythematosus among African American Women By Meghan Angley, PhD, & S. Sam Lim, MD Why was this study done? Previous studies have suggested that women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may experience adverse perinatal outcomes, including preterm and small-for-gestational-age birth, in…
The COVID-19 pandemic has filled hospitals with patients with rapidly progressive respiratory failure and diffuse bilateral opacities on chest X-ray.1 Additionally, many patients with severe COVID-19 develop acute kidney injury and require dialysis.2 Pulmonary-renal syndromes are also important to consider in this setting. Although alveolar hemorrhage is a cardinal feature of this syndrome, many patients…
During the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in Washington, D.C., we were asked to evaluate a 14-year-old boy admitted to the pediatric hospitalist service. He had been healthy until two weeks before, when he noted a sore throat, and soon after he developed fevers and rashes without congestion, shortness of breath, conjunctivitis or swollen lymph…
Lipoma arborescens is a rare, benign intra-articular lesion characterized by diffuse replacement of synovial tissue by mature adipocytes, causing a villous lipomatous proliferation of the synovial membrane.1 Typically, this is a monoarticular condition, with the knee being the most commonly affected although it has been rarely reported to occur in an oligo-/polyarticular fashion and in…
Cannabis arteritis mirrors thromboangiitis obliterans in its clinical and arteriographic presentation, but its relevant exposure is cannabis rather than tobacco.1 Whether cannabis arteritis is a subset of thromboangiitis obliterans or a unique pathologic entity is debatable. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, is a peripheral vasoconstrictor.2 This offers mechanistic insight into how cannabis may…
In certain ethnic populations and geographic locations, being a genetic carrier of sickle cell trait is common. Despite its prevalence, a recent report studied 100 mothers who were informed their newborn child had tested positive for sickle cell trait, and of these mothers less than half were aware of their carrier status prior to conception.1…
With many new agents designed to treat PsA, rheumatologists and patients have options. Schwartzman et al. examined the real-world use of different treatments and ranked patient medication preferences.