From the first substantial argument in the 19th century that uric acid played a role in gout, it took about 100 years for the medical community to accept its role in triggering acute inflammatory gout attacks. Two papers, both published in 1962, helped demonstrate the link between uric acid and acute gout attacks, quickly opening…
Teaching junior learners, such as medical students and residents, is increasingly important in rheumatology. Given the anticiÂpated shortage of rheumatologists, attracting more trainees to our field and enhancing knowledge of the rheumatic diseases among physicians in other fields are critical to meeting the needs of our patients.1,2 In addition, clinical reasoning is a vital skill…
Scleromyxedema is a primary cutaneous mucinosis characterized by a diffuse and generalized papular skin eruption of mucinous deposits throughout the upper dermis. In addition to dermatologic manifestations, scleromyxedema may involve the cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal and nervous systems. Dermato-neuro syndrome (DNS) is a rare, severe neurologic complication of scleromyxedema.1,2 The pathogenesis of DNS is unknown, but…
Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, or Sweet syndrome, is an inflammatory disease that classically presents with fever, leukocytosis and tender, erythematous plaques characterized by neutrophilic infiltrates on biopsy. Sweet syndrome has been reported in association with several autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis and sarcoidosis.1 Here, we discuss a case of…
Background & Objectives Worldwide, osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent, chronic joint disease that causes pain, disability and loss of function. Global trends demonstrated an increase of more than 100% in years lived with disability due to OA from 1990 to 2019. However, no nonsurgical intervention exists to prevent, halt or even delay OA progression….
Hip and knee replacements—despite advancement in treatments for rheumatic diseases, some patients will still need to undergo these surgeries. Here are insights into the considerations, costs and complications of total joint arthroplasty.
Eaton et al. set out to describe the prevalence, incidence and progression of radiographic and symptomatic hand osteoarthritis (OA), and to evaluate differences according to age, sex, race and other risk factors.
Scenario: A patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presents for a follow-up visit. After addressing her inflammatory arthritis symptoms, medications and laboratory results, she is asked if she has any other questions, and she begins describing her chronic low back pain, which has become worse despite physical therapy (PT). She requests stronger medications because her RA…
Erosive Polyarticular Chronic Tophaceous Gout in a Young Man A 27-year-old man was referred to us for joint pain and nodular swelling over multiple joints. His symptoms started when he was 13 years old, but he was sub-optimally treated. On examination, we found marked digital deformity, with multiple large tophi over the small joints of…
In certain ethnic populations and geographic locations, being a genetic carrier of sickle cell trait is common. Despite its prevalence, a recent report studied 100 mothers who were informed their newborn child had tested positive for sickle cell trait, and of these mothers less than half were aware of their carrier status prior to conception.1…