PHILADELPHIA—Approximately 100 research abstracts on axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) were accepted for presentation at ACR Convergence 2022. It is exciting to see a wealth of research on axSpA being undertaken worldwide. Here, we highlight important points from 10 of these studies. 1. Abstract 0378: Prevalence of Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSpA) in Patients Treated for Chronic Back Pain…
Early in 2022, a few months into the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, Paula Rackoff, MD, a rheumatologist and clinical associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, felt an urgency to head to the region to assist the many refugees fleeing for the border with Poland. Dr. Rackoff canceled a planned…
Syphilis, an ancient disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum, has been historically referred to as the great mimicker given its heterogenous presentation. Both systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and syphilis can have multi-systemic involvement. Both parvovirus B19 and syphilis have been reported to cause histologic features similar to those seen in lupus nephritis. We present…
In medicine, as in advertising, pictures can be worth a thousand words. From arthritis to vasculitis, imaging studies have been variably employed to aid in the diagnosis, treatment, risk stratification and prognostication of patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. The same holds true with the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), in which the clinical utility is…
On a highway traversed by cement trucks and Beetle-Bug auto-rickshaws we travel north from Bangalore, India, for a house call. It is 2007, and the city leaves us grudgingly. Between fields of loose chocolate soil and sprigs of beans poking skyward, the skeletons of homes and businesses rise; armies of workers lay brick from wooden…
MoCA as a Screening Test in SLE Assessing the utility of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) By Oshrat E. Tayer-Shifman, MD, Kimberley Yuen, BSc, MD, & Zahi Touma, MD, PhD, FACP, FACR Why was this study done? Cognitive impairment is a common manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with a prevalence of 40% based on…
The study of rheumatology (and medicine) in art, history, literature and music is engaging and informative.1-12 In this article, we present some instances when rheumatic and autoimmune diseases in certain individuals may have affected the course of history in Western civilization. Physicians are usually concerned, appropriately, with the effects of illness on the lives of…
You are a rheumatologist in Texas. You are very well trained. Your mentors included some of the leaders in rheumatology, and you are respected by your colleagues and your patients. You know the devastation of untreated rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. A young woman with recent onset of systemic lupus erythematosus is your new patient. You…
During ACR Convergence 2022 in early November, the ACR and the ARP honored a group of distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and patient care. This month, The Rheumatologist profiles the recipients of the ARP President’s and Merit Awards. ARP PRESIDENT’S AWARDS The ARP president can choose to honor ACR/ARP…
Estimates from the National Psoriasis Foundation indicate that more than 8 million people in the U.S. suffer from psoriasis and that approximately 30% of those individuals develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA).1 Given these statistics, roughly 2.4 million people in the country are likely affected by PsA. Moreover, patients with this systemic condition carry a higher-than-average burden…