During the 2020 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Zoltán Szekanecz, MD, PhD, addressed the risks of vascular disease and how to manage them in patients with rheumatic diseases.

During the 2020 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Zoltán Szekanecz, MD, PhD, addressed the risks of vascular disease and how to manage them in patients with rheumatic diseases.
Nobuya Abe, MD, Yuichiro Fujieda, MD, PhD, & Tatsuya Atsumi, MD, PhD |
The diagnosis of rheumatic diseases requires the exclusion of other systemic disorders. Infection, hematologic conditions, malignancies and some drugs may all lead to syndromes that closely mimic rheumatic diseases, which may lead to diagnostic delays. Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) is a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative diseases (LPDs) characterized by systemic inflammatory manifestations.1,2 As with…
Carolyn Crist |
(Reuters Health)—During the COVID-19 pandemic, an inflammatory condition similar to Kawasaki disease has been reported in children and adolescents, and now two groups of New York doctors each describe a case, one in a 36-year-old woman and one in a 45-year-old man.1 “We’re still learning how COVID-19 is affecting children and adults. The better we…
Sarah Dill, MD, & Duane Pearson, MD |
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…
Mary Buckley, MD, & Jeffrey Dvergsten, MD |
A 13-year-old, adopted girl of unknown ancestry with social anxiety, selective mutism and Takayasu arteritis presented for evaluation of severe, painful, gingival hyperplasia, which limited her oral intake and resulted in weight loss. The young patient was diagnosed with Takayasu arteritis at age 8, when she presented with a persistently elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),…
Catherine Kolonko |
At the Loma Linda University Medical Center, Calif., rheumatologists play a key consulting role for COVID-19 patients who may benefit from the use of biologic treatments…
Kimberly Retzlaff |
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—Current trends in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy are the increased use of newer medication categories, such as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors (Jakinibs) and biologics, and the rising costs of treatment. Unchanged is the consistent use of methotrexate as an effective therapy. These topics and more were discussed at the ACR Winter Symposium during…
Vania Lin, MD, MPH, & Leah Krull, MD |
Clinically amyotrophic dermatomyositis (CADM), a subset of dermatomyositis (DM), is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by typical DM cutaneous findings (e.g., heliotrope rash, Gottron papules, Gottron sign) without evidence of myositis.1 The incidence of DM and CADM is approximately 9.63 per 1 million people and 2.08 per 1 million people, respectively.2 The association with development…
Christopher Phillips, MD |
Jane’s* hands and wrists had been swollen and painful for about eight weeks. Lab findings in the ambulatory consult that came to our office revealed a cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody count >250 u/mL. We all know where this story goes, including how important the early treatment window is. Our clinic reviews all consults and tries…
A retrospective study found serum interleukin 6 levels at the onset of IgG4-RD may significantly correlate with clinical inflammatory parameters and the involvement of the bile duct, liver and spleen…