Search results for: knee

Coding Corner Questions: An Office Personnel Quiz

From the College | April 15, 2020

A 65-year-old male patient diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at multiple sites without rheumatoid factor has been ordered to have infliximab infusions. What should support staff do to ensure this procedure can be given to the patient? Make sure there is a signed order from the provider Make sure a prior authorization is obtained Make sure…

Case Report: A Patient’s Clubbing & Arthralgias Resist Diagnosis

Theodore Korty, DO, & Adam Grunbaum, DO | April 15, 2020

A 59-year-old woman presented to our rheumatology clinic with a six-month history of a symmetric polyarthritis. She initially experienced pain in both knees. As time progressed, she began to notice pain in her ankles, hips, shoulders, hands and feet. She experienced joint stiffness lasting for more than 30 minutes every morning. She also described worsening…

FDA Approves Meloxicam Injection & OTC Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel for Pain Management

Michele B. Kaufman, PharmD, BCGP | April 13, 2020

The FDA has approved two pain medications: meloxicam in an injection and over-the-counter diclofenac sodium topical gel 1%…

Statins Linked to Reduced Likelihood of Joint Replacement

Reuters Staff | March 16, 2020

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—High-intensity statins are associated with a lower risk of joint replacement, new findings show. “Statins at high intensity may reduce the risk of hip and knee replacement. The effect may be RA specific,” Dr. Aliya Sarmanova of the University of Nottingham, U.K., and colleagues write in Rheumatology.1 Statins have anti-inflammatory effects, and…

Pediatric Cases Require Special Considerations & Aggressive Treatment Plans

Thomas R. Collins | March 12, 2020

ATLANTA—Managing pediatric patients with rheumatic disease involves special considerations, such as developmental concerns and physiological traits that may affect dosing of medications, according to two experts. During a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, Courtney Kremer, ARNP, a pediatric nurse practitioner at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, and Jessica…

Thoughtful Pediatric Care: Pediatric Cases Require Special Considerations & Aggressive Treatment Plans

Thomas R. Collins | March 9, 2020

In Canada, five provinces will now reimburse patients with plaque psoriasis who use risankizumab. Also, Canada Health has approved apremilast for treating adults with plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis…

Remembering Etanercept & the Advent of the Biologic Era

Robert S. Katz, MD | February 10, 2020

As a veteran rheumatologist, I remember the clinical trials of etanercept’s (Enbrel’s) efficacy. And when the drug was first approved in 1998, I participated in those clinical trials and realized the effectiveness was astonishing. It was easy to tell which patients were treated with etanercept vs. those who received placebo, even though both groups were…

Case Report: Obliterative Bronchiolitis in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Robin Paudel, MD, Prerna Dogra, MD, & Richard S. Morehead, MD | January 17, 2020

A 59-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presented to our pulmonary clinic for progressively worsening dyspnea of five years’ duration. She described progressively worsening dyspnea after a few minutes of walking on level ground. In addition, she noted worsening pain and morning stiffness of the wrists, knees and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, with subcutaneous nodules. She…

Myositis-Specific Antibodies Identified

Mithu Maheswaranathan, MD, & Lisa Criscione-Schreiber, MD, MEd | January 16, 2020

The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) encompass eight categories: 1) dermatomyositis (DM) in adults, 2) juvenile dermatomyositis, 3) amyopathic DM, 4) cancer-associated DM, 5) polymyositis, 6) immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, 7) inclusion body myositis, and 8) overlap myositis.1 These categories help classify the myopathies based on clinical and histologic features. The incidence of IIM is estimated at…