ATLANTA—At the ACR/ARP 2019 Annual Meeting, several widely renowned experts across an array of specialty subjects provided a comprehensive and compelling review of advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of a number of rheumatologic conditions. Sjögren’s Syndrome Frederick Vivino, MD, FACR, chief of rheumatology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and professor of clinical medicine…
ATLANTA—“Bane of our existence” and “pajama time”—the dreaded time spent at night catching up on documentation—are a couple of phrases associated with the electronic medical record (EMR). To try to ease the frustration and limit the amount of time physicians have to spend using the systems, two experts reviewed tools and tricks for Epic and…
Angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) is an aggressive, peripheral T cell, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with an incidence of 0.05 cases per 100,000 person-years in the U.S., and it typically manifests in adults older than 60 years.1,2 AITL was previously known as angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy with dysproteinemia, immunoblastic lymphadenopathy or lymphogranulomatosis X, due to the hypothesis that the…
In March 2020, an elderly married couple living on Long Island, N.Y., presented to our emergency department with symptoms suspicious for COVID-19 infection. The wife, a-76-year-old woman, presented with complaints of subjective fevers, minimal dry cough and headaches of one-week duration. She denied having any chills, rhinorrhea, diarrhea, abdominal pain or shortness of breath. Two…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—For young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who don’t achieve disease control, switching to a different class of biologic is unlikely to be beneficial, researchers say. The observational study yielded no evidence to support or refute the 2015 National Health Service England guidelines, which recommend switching most patients to a second…
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…
ATLANTA—When it comes to treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, most clinicians agree: One size does not fit all. Many treatment options exist, and seldom is there 100% consensus on what the first course of action or general approach should be. In the face of such variability, four clinicians took the stage at the 2019 ACR/ARP…
ATLANTA—New drug approvals, new and expanded drug indications, and important safety and other updates relevant for rheumatologists were presented by three physicians from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Nov. 11 at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. New JAK Inhibitor Approved for RA On Aug. 16, 2019, the FDA approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq), an…
Reproductive health can be a concern for patients with rheumatic diseases, and practitioners in both rheumatology and obstetrics/gynecology often work closely together. The 2020 ACR Guideline for the Management of Reproductive Health in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases, new clinical recommendations developed by an ACR-convened group for pregnant women, post-menopausal women, lactating women, and women and…
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…