A recent study, conducted by the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium and funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), examined whether the addition of abatacept, a drug that affects T cell activation, to standard prednisone treatment could reduce the risk of relapse in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).1 Although…
Your gateway to global rheumatology education! Join us in San Diego for the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting on Nov. 3–8. The advance registration deadline is Oct. 18. Register and get more information on all Annual Meeting sessions. High-Impact Learning Starts with Pre-Meeting Courses Pre-meeting courses, held Nov. 3–4 before the official start of the meeting,…
A new study in mice found that Hyal2 deficiency may play a role in the turnover of cartilage hyaluronan, resulting in an accumulation of hyaluronan and, eventually, the development of osteoarthritis. Researchers suspect these results indicate an imbalance in the metabolism of hyaluronan…
When it was created in 1982, the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center comprised one-and-a-half rheumatologists: its founder, Lynell W. Klassen, MD, MACR, and Gerald Moore, MD, who later received formal training at the NIH and now serves as senior associate dean for academic affairs. Thirty-five years later, the…
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…
There you are, working steadily away on your next manuscript. The ideas are flowing. You’ve hit your stride. Nothing can stop you now—nothing, that is, except a colleague who shows up at your desk with a 20-page grant proposal. “Do you mind?” he asks. Across academia the problem is the same—too few hours in the…
“I was hoping for good news, but now I am worried,” was the response of a 29-year-old patient when I suggested an oncology referral. He was four months into treatment of dermatomyositis and had experienced significant improvement of his muscle strength, CPK levels and interstitial pneumonitis, but a follow-up CT scan showed that his spleen…
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…
Editor’s note: The new Pillar Talk column is developed by the ARHP Executive Committee in an effort to share information about ongoing activities related to our four pillars: Education, Practice, Research and Advocacy. The ARHP Online Education Portfolio continues to evolve and grow. The Advanced Rheumatology Course (ARC) and the Fundamentals of Rheumatology Course (FRC)…
Rheumatologists treating HIV patients in 2017 must think through many important factors as this population ages. As we continue to learn, rheumatologists must consider important drug–drug interactions, relatively uncommon rheumatological presentations of HIV, as well as specific diagnostic challenges. Working closely with infectious disease specialists is the best way to achieve optimum care for this…