Joint pain and swelling flare up in a 14-year-old boy who tests positive for inflammation, thrombocytosis, and human leukocyte antigen B27... [Read More]
COVID-19 has generated an outpouring of fast-paced, late-breaking new developments. The majority of countries (188) around the world have reported cases of COVID-19.1 As of April 1, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported cases in every U.S. jurisdiction (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and… [Read More]
A 13-year-old, adopted girl of unknown ancestry with social anxiety, selective mutism and Takayasu arteritis presented for evaluation of severe, painful, gingival hyperplasia, which limited her oral intake and resulted in weight loss. The young patient was diagnosed with Takayasu arteritis at age 8, when she presented with a persistently elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),… [Read More]
Given how unexpectedly front and center hydroxychloroquine has been in discussions about the treatment of COVID-19 this year, it makes sense to look at how it became so central to the treatment of a rheumatologic condition. In 1991, an article appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine that would alter the way rheumatologists approached… [Read More]
According to a new study, the prevalence of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs), the most common biomarker of autoimmunity in the U.S., has increased considerably in recent years among adolescents aged 12–19 years, in both sexes (especially in men), older adults (age ≥50 years) and non-Hispanic whites…... [Read More]
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—The science underlying the neurobiology of chronic pain isn’t something rheumatologists often think about. However, pain is an important reason why patients see a rheumatologist. At the 2020 ACR Winter Symposium in January, Leslie Crofford, MD, gave two presentations addressing pain experienced by rheumatology patients, including a session on the fundamental mechanisms of… [Read More]
Clinically amyotrophic dermatomyositis (CADM), a subset of dermatomyositis (DM), is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by typical DM cutaneous findings (e.g., heliotrope rash, Gottron papules, Gottron sign) without evidence of myositis.1 The incidence of DM and CADM is approximately 9.63 per 1 million people and 2.08 per 1 million people, respectively.2 The association with development… [Read More]
Two new studies delving into the relative safety of biologic drugs prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have concluded that real-world applications of abatacept and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi’s) are comparable to more conventional therapies in their associated risk of serious infections. Triple Therapy One study, in Arthritis Care & Research, found the risk of… [Read More]
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The prevalence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in the blood of U.S. adolescents and adults has increased over the past 30 years, signaling a rise in autoimmunity, researchers say. “It is not known if these same increases are occurring in other parts of the world, but because ANA are associated with many autoimmune… [Read More]
ATLANTA—At the ACR/ARP 2019 Annual Meeting, several widely renowned experts across an array of specialty subjects provided a comprehensive and compelling review of advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of a number of rheumatologic conditions. Sjögren’s Syndrome Frederick Vivino, MD, FACR, chief of rheumatology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and professor of clinical medicine… [Read More]