The ACR & the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) have published a joint Guideline for the Treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). The guideline will serve as an aid to practitioners managing active PsA in patients.


The ACR & the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) have published a joint Guideline for the Treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). The guideline will serve as an aid to practitioners managing active PsA in patients.

Shikha Mittoo, MD, MHS, FRCPC |
A typical patient with a rheumatic disease needs a multifaceted treatment approach to address comorbidities, minimize disability, promote quality of life and improve survival. To achieve these outcomes, rheumatology research has evolved from examining a single treatment to studying the best treatment approaches. Examples of these strategy trials include how to best combine pharmaceutical therapies,…

The evaluation of a child with arthralgia who has a normal physical examination provides a challenge to rheumatologists. Here are some insights into assessing and treating children with musculoskeletal pain syndromes…
As of Jan. 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will implement several coding and documentation policies to provide immediate burden reduction to providers. The 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (MPFS) released Nov. 1, 2018, by the CMS contained significant changes to the Medicare Part B coding and documentation policies…

Anat Chemerinski, MD, & Jason Liebowitz, MD |
BALTIMORE—Understanding issues regarding pregnancy in women with rheumatic disease is important to patients and physicians alike, said Bonnie Bermas, MD, the Dr. Morris Ziff Distinguished Professor in Rheumatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, in her recent lecture at the Maryland Society for the Rheumatic Diseases.The physiologic changes in normal pregnancy, which include increased circulating…

Catherine Kolonko |
A recent study suggests costly antibody screening among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus could be reduced by limiting repeat screening of extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs). Researchers investigated how often results changed for anti-ENA and other commonly screened antibodies in repeat testing of patients with SLE. The findings were published in the Journal of Rheumatology.1 “We theorized,…

This week, Hazel L. Breland, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, stepped into her new role as the 50th ARHP president. Dr. Breland is an associate professor of occupational therapy (OT) at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where she teaches masters students, serves as academic fieldwork coordinator for clinical placements of all entry-level graduate OT…

Charles Radis, DO |
I glanced up from Amanda Wolf’s chart as the emergency department nurse, followed by the lab technician (tech), followed by the electrocardiogram (ECG) tech flowed into cubicle No. 5. John Benner, MD, pulled up a chair to review the case with me at the nursing station. “Here’s what we’ve got. Thirteen-year-old girl with a one-week…
Anne Harding |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Heredity plays a substantially larger role than diet in determining serum urate levels, according to new findings in BMJ. Nearly 25% of the variation in serum urate is attributable to common genetic variants, while dietary pattern explained less than 1%, Dr. Tanya J. Major of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New…

AMSTERDAM—It’s been many years since adipose tissue came to be appreciated not just as a store of energy, but also as a regulator of metabolism and an important player in immune function. Rheumatology researchers continue to drill down into the role of fat cells in the search for mechanisms that could reveal targets for the…