CHICAGO—Two experts presented insights on the diagnosis and treatment of low back and hip pain, including a refresher course on the mechanical structures involved, in Anatomy in a Day: Demystifying Low Back Pain and Lateral Hip Pain: New Patho-Anatomical Perspectives, a session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Low Back Pain Avoid using such terms…
CHICAGO—The 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting session on genetic mimics of rheumatic disease began with a description of a patient who presented with the symptoms of childhood-onset lupus but instead had a well-defined genetic disease: lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI). Lindsay Burrage, MD, PhD, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,…
CHICAGO—At the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, rheumatologist project volunteers for the ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives talked about their efforts to educate primary-care providers, patients and families in their communities about systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Their goal is to facilitate timely diagnosis and treatment of lupus, especially in underserved communities. Health Disparities Health disparities, or differences in health…
CHICAGO—Can non-drug interventions improve the lives of patients with scleroderma? Janet L. Poole, PhD, OTR/L, professor and director of the Occupational Therapy Graduate Program of the School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, addressed this question when she presented the ARHP Distinguished Lecture at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. She discussed the challenges faced…
CHICAGO—Held during the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, the ACR Review Course covered a wide range of topics for rheumatologists—from advances in pain and rheumatic disease management to the intersection of rheumatology and neurology. Session speakers shared insights, as well as state-of-the-art approaches to diagnosis, management and treatment. Inflammatory Myopathies Julie J. Paik, MD, MHS, assistant…
Sara Alehashemi, MD, MPH, recalls the first time she ever stepped foot on a badminton court. It was back in 2003, when she was a 24-year-old medical school student at Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) in Iran. She was completing a rotation in orthopedic surgery and had been teamed up with another medical student…
CHICAGO—Medications have frequently been implicated as a cause of musculoskeletal complaints, including persistent arthralgias, arthritis and myalgias.1 The list of offending agents is diverse, and the degree of symptoms is variable. In the world of transplant recipients, this list is exhaustive and includes immunosuppressive agents (cyclosporine, tacrolimus); myeloid growth factors, such as G-CSF; antibiotics (quinolones);…
(Reuters Health)—Patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) can add hip-strengthening exercises to their workout to improve the ability to walk and maybe reduce pain, according to a research review. Based on pooled data from eight clinical trials with a total of 340 patients, hip strengthening exercises involving weights or elastic bands would help the most, the…
A 60-year-old man returns for a follow-up related to his diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis and chronic gout of his right ankle and foot, without tophi. He reports the gout flares have subsided in his ankle. He takes 450 mg of allopurinol daily. He has rheumatoid factor-positive rheumatoid arthritis, which previously affected multiple sites, without organ…
Vasculitis is a group of chronic inflammatory diseases in which the blood vessel is the target of an immune reaction. They can be secondary to connective tissue disease, idiopathic or due to infection, neoplasm or drugs.1 Primary angiitis of the central nervous system (PACNS) is a rare syndrome characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration and necrosis…