Rheumatologists are accustomed to educating patients about medications—but biologic medications require some additional time and discussion. “Biologics are inherently more complex [than other medications], and there are multiple issues to consider before initiating treatment,” says K. “Kwas” Huston, MD, The Center for Rheumatic Disease, Kansas City, Mo. “This includes the patient’s disease activity, prior medications…
Herpes zoster (HZ) infection, also known as shingles, is caused by reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus infection generally acquired decades earlier. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the incidence of stroke immediately following HZ infection is increased in patients with autoimmune diseases compared with the incidence of stroke at later time points. Results: In patients with autoimmune diseases, incident HZ was associated with as much as a twofold increased risk of stroke. Prompt antiviral therapy was associated with lower incidence of subsequent stroke…
EULAR has updated its recommendations for the management of early arthritis, outlining aspects of diagnosis and drug treatments…
Wash your hands. This most basic tenet of proper hygiene has been drummed into our heads for years. It’s an obvious infection prevention activity, yet for years, compliance among physicians and other caregivers has been lackluster. To rectify this matter, regulatory agencies began auditing hospital staff adherence to this axiom of infection prevention. Not only…
The transition from pediatric to adult care can be a rocky one. For many rheumatology patients, any problems in the move can cause gaps in care. To address this issue, the ACR joined the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Pediatric to Adult Care Transitions Initiative. The Initiative is a project spearheaded by the ACP’s Council…
The transition from pediatric to adult care can be a rocky one. For many rheumatology patients, any problems in the move can cause gaps in care. To address this issue, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) joined the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Pediatric to Adult Care Transitions Initiative. The Initiative is a project spearheaded…
When I started my rheumatology practice 40 years ago, it quickly became apparent that many referrals of presumed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) patients and presumed giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients were the recipients of devastating side effects from long-term corticosteroid (CS) use that could not be discontinued due to prompt recurrence of inflammatory phenomena. It was…
SAN FRANCISCO—Lung involvement is a frequent and often life-threatening manifestation of the connective tissue diseases (CTDs) that are commonly encountered by rheumatologists. A variety of rheumatic diseases can affect the lungs, including systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, lupus, polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and Sjögren’s syndrome. A panel presentation on lung disease associated with rheumatic diseases at the…
A 12-year-old male established patient with inflammatory bowel disease with associated juvenile spondyloarthropathy returns to the office for a follow-up visit for his infliximab infusion. The patient reports moderate pain in his right hip after walking for extended periods of time or after sports activities. He denies any other joint pain and denies any joint…
CHICAGO—In October of last year, a 52-year-old woman came to see Kevin Winthrop, MD, MPH, associate professor in infectious diseases, public health and preventive medicine at the Oregon Health & Sciences University. She had rheumatoid arthritis and was taking methotrexate and prednisone. She had had little change in her RA disease severity and was considering…