Anne R. Bass, MD, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College/Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, has had a unique career path combining clinical practice with academia. Dr. Bass knew “pretty early” in her academic career that she would be going into medicine. She loved science, but also knew that she wanted to…
It is better to be feared than loved. The associate dean of student affairs at my medical school embraced this motto. Although the dean of the medical school was titularly in charge, it was the associate dean who kept the school running. And we all feared her, just a little bit. Without ever raising her…
Like solving sudoku, planning the ACR annual meeting requires an ability to recognize patterns and employ focused logical thinking, all the while remaining undaunted by the various paths possible to complete a grid from what looks like, at initial glance, an incomprehensible labyrinth of options. The patterns in this situation are not numbers, but sessions,…
Scleromyxedema is a primary cutaneous mucinosis characterized by a diffuse and generalized papular skin eruption of mucinous deposits throughout the upper dermis. In addition to dermatologic manifestations, scleromyxedema may involve the cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal and nervous systems. Dermato-neuro syndrome (DNS) is a rare, severe neurologic complication of scleromyxedema.1,2 The pathogenesis of DNS is unknown, but…
Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, or Sweet syndrome, is an inflammatory disease that classically presents with fever, leukocytosis and tender, erythematous plaques characterized by neutrophilic infiltrates on biopsy. Sweet syndrome has been reported in association with several autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis and sarcoidosis.1 Here, we discuss a case of…
In light of new challenges to individuals’ reproductive rights and the known challenges of clinical management of rheumatic disease patients during pregnancy, we review the current state of reproductive rheumatology and the management of patients with rheumatic disease during pregnancy.
For best safety and efficacy outcomes, trials in psoriatic arthritis should use active comparators and stricter remission criteria, with outcome measures that are important to patients.
Cannabis arteritis mirrors thromboangiitis obliterans in its clinical and arteriographic presentation, but its relevant exposure is cannabis rather than tobacco.1 Whether cannabis arteritis is a subset of thromboangiitis obliterans or a unique pathologic entity is debatable. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, is a peripheral vasoconstrictor.2 This offers mechanistic insight into how cannabis may…
As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, as white as snow. When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased. —Numbers 12:10 For 29 years he [Fray Pedro de Urraca] was afflicted by … pain, suffering it at once in all the joints of his body, with…
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…