A 61-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was hospitalized for a several-month history of progressively worsening left ankle pain and swelling. She had been unable to bear weight on her left leg for several days and did not notice improvement in symptoms with 20 mg of prednisone daily, which she…
As rheumatologists, we relish the thrill of diagnostic conundrums that accompany our immune-mediated multi-system and often undifferentiated disease processes. Many rheumatologic diagnoses are essentially diagnoses of exclusion. We’re accustomed to diagnosing iatrogenesis, infection and malignancy as often as we diagnose rheumatic disease. Complex clinical problem solving and critical reasoning are our forte, and to do…
My fellow was laughing at me. By itself, I don’t think this was an unusual occurrence. I am quite certain that my fellows laugh at me all the time. That said, when such laughter is called for, I am accustomed to a certain protocol being observed. In general, I expect the laughter to be contained,…
HORSHAM, PA—The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tremfya (guselkumab) for adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a chronic progressive disease characterized by painful joints and skin inflammation.1,2 Tremfya is the first treatment approved for active PsA that selectively inhibits interleukin (IL)…
Patient with autoimmune disease may experience medical emergencies. Here is an overview of recognition and management of three emergent situations for patients with scleroderma: critical digital ischemia, scleroderma renal crisis and intestinal pseudo-obstruction…
Canakinumab, an interleukin (IL) 1 blocker, can now be prescribed to treat patients with active Still’s disease and adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD)…
COVID-19 Global Alliance registry and other data on rheumatic disease patients with COVID-19 were presented…
Caring for pediatric patients during a pandemicin the age of COVID-19 requires adaptations, says Jay Mehta, MD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The one exposure that seems to put [pediatric] patients at risk is if they are on higher doses of steroids, with some data suggesting worse outcomes. We just put out guidelines telling providers to reduce steroids in their patients to the lowest dose that can adequately control their disease.”
June saw the passing of a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to many in the rheumatology community when J. Timothy Harrington, MD, died of pancreatic cancer in his hometown of Madison, Wis. Dr. Harrington trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute and UT Southwestern Medical Center, and served on…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—COVID-19-infected patients with rheumatic disease were more likely to experience respiratory failure than those without rheumatic disease, according to a retrospective study in China. “Immune dysregulation underlying rheumatic diseases may affect the disease manifestation of COVID-19,” Dr. Jixin Zhong of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, tells Reuters Health by email….