At a recent ACR town hall, four rheumatologists shared strategies that have helped them recruit new physicians amid a significant nationwide rheumatology workforce shortage.


Leslie Mertz, PhD |
At a recent ACR town hall, four rheumatologists shared strategies that have helped them recruit new physicians amid a significant nationwide rheumatology workforce shortage.

Two new ACR Clinical Practice Guidelines provide recommendations on the pharmacologic management of JIA, focusing on treatment of oligoarthritis, temporomandibular arthritis & systemic JIA, as well as nonpharmacologic therapies, medication monitoring, immunizations & imaging.

Osman Bhatty, MD, Dale Kobrin, MD, Lauren Mathos, DO, Nazia Khatoon, MD, Yazan Samhouri, MD, Naga Sai Krishna Patibandla, MD, & Mary Chester Wasko, MD, MSc |
A 26-year-old woman presented to our emergency department (ED) with intermittent fevers, nausea and vomiting. She had a past medical history of well-controlled, anti-nuclear antibody positive and rheumatoid factor negative polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) and Crohn’s disease. Her maintenance treatment consisted of monthly intravenous infliximab, 10 mg of oral methotrexate weekly and 20 mg…

Zeba Faroqui, MD |
A 44-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with bifrontal headaches that had started approximately one month earlier. She was diagnosed with migraines and discharged home. Three days later, the patient returned to the emergency department upon recurrence of her headaches, and this time she also reported abnormal leg movements. A computerized tomography (CT) scan…

Clara Lin, MD, RhMSUS |
A 17-year-old woman presents with chronic finger pain experienced over six months that is worse in the mornings. On physical exam, the patient has no joint swelling, pain on range of motion or limitation of range of motion in any of her finger joints. She has a tender, subcutaneous, firm, flesh-colored nodule on the lateral…

Halsted R. Holman, MD |
James Franklin Fries was born on Aug. 25, 1938, in Normal, Ill. His mother taught middle school English and his father was a college business professor. Jim graduated from Stanford University in 1960 with a major in philosophy, and received his MD at Johns Hopkins UniÂversity, Baltimore, in 1964. He pursued internal medicine and rheumatology…

Eman Bamashmous, MBBS, Buthaina Al Adba, MBBS, CABP, & Sharon Bout-Tabaku, MD, MSCE |
Intra-articular venous malformations of the knee are an uncommon cause of knee pain in children. Presenting symptoms of this rare subtype of venous malformation often include nonspecific pain and joint swelling, which may be episodic, and accompanied by limited range of motion. The signs and symptoms can mimic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Timely diagnosis of…

Megan Milne, MD, & Rebecca E. Sadun, MD, PhD |
The 1999 Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human gave a sobering depiction of the magnitude and consequences of medical error.1 The report concluded that approximately 98,000 people die in hospitals annually due to preventable medical errors. Of all the errors detailed in this report, diagnostic errors have since been determined to be the…

University of Chicago Medicine: Lauren He, MD; & Cuoghi Edens, MD |
A study was able to quantify the transference of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors from mother to fetus during pregnancy. Overall, the researchers found low levels of transfer for the treatments studied.

The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program: Alisha Akinsete, MD; Malki Peskin, MD; & Jessica Perfetto, MD |
Machine learning is a tool that may help pediatric rheumatologists distinguish between different subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and predict treatment response.