Three clinical experts on gout offer their insights into common management errors, clinical pearls, new safety data from the FDA and the role of biologic therapies in the management of gout.


Mary Choy, PharmD, BCGP, FASHP |
Three clinical experts on gout offer their insights into common management errors, clinical pearls, new safety data from the FDA and the role of biologic therapies in the management of gout.

Sir William Osler, widely regarded as one of the greatest physicians of the 20th century, once said, “He who studies medicine without books sails an uncharted sea, but he who studies medicine without patients does not go to sea at all.”1 This sentiment is particularly true in the field of rheumatology, in which understanding the…

Naveen Raj, DO, & Lisa Duncan, MD |
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) associated polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is an increasingly rare vasculitis in developed countries due to advances in HBV vaccination and antiviral therapy. However, the condition does persist, and rheumatologists should consider it when evaluating vasculitis cases. Below, we discuss a case that illustrates the varied clinical presentations PAN can encompass. A high…

Tej Bhavsar, MD, & Nancy Joste, MD |
A 54-year-old African American man arrived at the emergency department with the acute onset of a tender mass on the left side of his neck. It had been getting progressively larger for the preceding two days. History & Examination His history included chronic right hip osteoarthritis with two surgeries performed five years prior. At his…

When evaluating patients with possible myopathic symptoms, rheumatologists must consider a rare, but important, group of inherited disorders: the metabolic myopathies. However, their diagnosis often remains a challenge. Early recognition of these primary metabolic myopathies is essential to help prevent disease morbidity and mortality from rhabdomyolysis. Here, we focus on the metabolic myopathies that present…

A 2019 update of the ACR’s previous clinical practice guideline on axial spondyloarthritis is now available online. Lead investigator Michael Ward, MD, shares advice for implementing the guideline updates, including those related to sequencing and tapering biologics, and knowing when to obtain images.

In September 2018, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted fast-track status to FCX‑013, a gene therapy product developed to treat moderate to severe localized scleroderma (morphea). Previously, the treatment received an orphan drug designation for localized scleroderma, as well as a rare pediatric disease designation. Phase 1 and 2 studies will assess safety…

Ambreesh Chawla, MD, Ashwini Komarla, MD, & Sujatha Vuyyuru, MD |
Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), also known as Churg-Strauss syndrome or allergic granulomatosis and angiitis, is a rare small- and medium-vessel vasculitis. This disease was first described by American pathologists Jacob Churg and Lotte Strauss in 1951.1 Although the vasculitis is often not apparent in the initial phases of the disease, EGPA can affect any…

Mary Choy, PharmD, BCGP, FASHP |
Over the past few years, biosimilars and other new drugs have been introduced to treat rheumatic illnesses. Some of the conditions we treat have numerous drug options, others have few or only off-label options. This series, “Rheumatology Drugs at a Glance,” provides streamlined information on the administration of biologic, biosimilar and small molecule inhibitor drugs…
Reuters Staff |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is more effective than treatment as usual for improving function and other outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia, according to a new randomized trial. MBSR is an extension of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intended to help patients change the way they experience symptoms, Dr. Albert Feliu-Soler of the Institut de…