Methotrexate—an affordable, established drug for rheumatoid arthritis—may also be helpful for patients suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand, a recent study reports.1 Treatment of hand OA and inflammation with 20 mg of methotrexate for six months had a moderate, but potentially clinically meaningful, effect on reducing pain and stiffness in patients with symptomatic hand…
“I think we learn from medicine everywhere that it is, at its heart, a human endeavor, requiring good science but also a limitless curiosity and interest in your fellow human being, and that the physician-patient relationship is key; all else follows from it.”1 These profound words from Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP, Linda R. Meier…
Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an acquired thromboinflammatory disease that can have severe, sometimes catastrophic, effects on patients and their families. Our modern understanding of APS began to emerge in the early 1980s. At that point, it was defined as a condition characterized by thrombotic episodes and/or pregnancy complications in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL).1…
The ACR will lead five other specialty societies on a resolution supporting pediatric specialty care and will co-lead resolutions addressing Medicare Advantage Part B drug coverage, white bagging mandates, state prescription drug affordability boards and impacts of alternative funding programs on access to care.
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…
SAN DIEGO—In one presentation at Plenary Session 3, ACR Convergence 2023, Beth Wallace, MD, MSc, a staff physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Michigan, and an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, shared important data on the relationship between time-dependent cumulative glucocorticoid exposure and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in a cohort of veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Small fiber neuropathy is a common form of peripheral neuropathy with multiple potential etiologies and a varied clinical presentation. It can’t be detected by nerve conduction studies, making it an elusive and often overlooked entity. Small fiber neuropathy is well documented in several rheumatic diseases, and its symptom burden can profoundly affect quality of life….
This guidance from the ACR provides information about new remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) treatment management codes
In 1937, the Turkish physician Hulusi Behçet described a number of patients with relapsing aphthous ulcers in the mouth and over the genitalia, as well as hypopyon iritis. Since that time, the eponymous condition, known as Behçet’s disease, has been recognized as a multisystem vasculitis that can present with myriad other signs and symptoms. Although…
SAN DIEGO—Too many excellent pediatric rheumatology studies to squeeze into one talk? What a good problem to have. Dr. Ardoin first highlighted baricitinib in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.