In a recent clinical trial, tocilizumab helped sustain glucocorticoid-free remission in patients with giant cell arteritis. Patients also received a prednisone taper, and 50% of tocilizumab-treated patients achieved prednisone-free remission and were less likely to experience disease flare compared with placebo…
Elderly patients have unique requirements with regard to treatment for pain, rheumatic disease and other ailments. Collaboration between rheumatologists, geriatricians and primary care physicians is essential to avoid unnecessary interventions and improve care for this patient population…
For years, guidelines from various organizations have recommended osteoporosis screening in women and men starting at a specific age or based on specific risk factors. Among these guidelines are those developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that recommend universal osteoporosis screening for women 65 years of age and older and for targeted…
The patient was a 48-year-old woman who saw her primary care physician for a flu-like illness three months prior to admission. Her symptoms initially improved, but recurred one month later; she was treated symptomatically, and again symptoms resolved. Two months later, she presented to an outside facility’s emergency department with fever to 103ºF, with associated…
As a manifestation of hyperuricemia, inflammatory bullous lesions have rarely been described in the past century. A more classic presentation of hyperuricemia is acute inflammatory gouty arthritis, characterized by the deposition of monosodium urate crystals. Other complications of chronic untreated hyperuricemia may include polyarticular arthritis, tophus formation and possible chronic destructive lesions of the bone,…
(Reuters Health)—Oral glucosamine has no more effect than placebo on joint pain, according to a new meta-analysis. The analysis of randomized controlled trials from which data have been made public found that at both three-month and 24-month follow-up points, the supplement had no effect on either hip or knee pain from arthritis. Even sub-groups, such…
Romosozumab’s Future Is Uncertain Romosozumab, which has the possible U.S. brand name Evenity, is awaiting approval from the FDA.1 The treatment is an investigational, injectable biologic for treating osteoporosis. It increases bone formation and bone density, reducing a patient’s risk of fractures. The manufacturer no longer expects the FDA to approve the drug this year…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The renal protective effect of allopurinol appears to differ from that of febuxostat in the elderly, according to new research. The study, of a nationally representative sample of Medicare patients, showed that allopurinol was associated with a greater reduction in the risk of incident kidney disease, report the authors online July 13…
CHICAGO—Caryn A. Libbey, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, described the evolving in our understanding of amyloid at the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April. Amyloidosis is a rare disease that is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. “Even though this disease has been around for 150 years, I still consider it…
The levels of service within an evaluation and management (E/M) visit are based on the documentation of key components, which include history, physical examination and medical decision making. The history component is comparable to telling a story and should include a beginning and some form of development to adequately describe the patient’s presenting problem. To…