An analysis of treat-to-target therapy assessing two ultrasound definitions of remission for patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has concluded that using ultrasound remission as a target was not associated with better long-term outcomes for RA patients.1 Compared with MRI, ultrasound costs less, is more accessible and offers the ability to scan more joints in…
The past 20 years have seen dramatic changes in the practice of rheumatology, ranging from bench to bedside therapeutic advances to dramatic improvements in diagnostic imaging. The results have been gratifying for our patients and attractive to internal medicine trainees making subspecialty career decisions. We are pleased to provide this article for The Rheumatologist’s wide-ranging…
Note: Updated May 2, 2018, to correct a link in the reference section. The error was introduced in editing. A 44-year-old Caucasian woman presented to the outpatient rheumatology clinic that had followed her for several years for rheumatoid arthritis. She was compliant with her regimen of hydroxychloroquine, etanercept and salsalate. Her chief complaint was worsening…
A 57-year-old Ghanaian woman was referred to our rheumatology practice with acute, left elbow swelling and pain. The referring oncologist suspected gout, because the patient had hyperuricemia. Six months before, the patient was diagnosed with stage IV human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated adult T cell lymphoma (ATLL). Her initial oncologic manifestations included multiple thoracic,…
MADRID—Researchers say that whole-body MRI could yield an earlier diagnosis of spondyloarthropathy (SpA) in patients with early inflammatory joint symptoms, according to findings presented in a poster session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR). The approach could lead to earlier treatment and better outcomes, they say. Investigators at the University of Leeds recruited…
MADRID—Calcification in osteoarthritis (OA) involves a series of pathways and interactions that feed off each other in a process that bears some resemblance to the transformation of cartilage to bone that takes place in the embryonic stage of human development, a researcher said here at the 2017 Annual European Congress on Rheumatology (EULAR). “My hypothesis…
Highlights from the 2017 EULAR Congress MADRID—Researchers say that whole-body MRI could yield an earlier diagnosis of spondyloarthropathy (SpA) in patients with early inflammatory joint symptoms, according to findings presented in a poster session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR). The approach could lead to earlier treatment and better outcomes, they say. Investigators…
The presence of synovial monosodium urate monohydrate (MSU) crystals is the gold standard for diagnosing gout. But a new study, funded in part by the ACR and led by rheumatologists, including Alexis Ogdie, MD, MSCE, evaluated the effectiveness of ultrasound in diagnosing it. The study found that ultrasound can be useful in discriminating gout from non-gout….
Case A 46-year-old Caucasian female presented to the outpatient rheumatology clinic where she had been followed for several years. Her chief complaint was pain in her right knee, posterior right thigh and right hip that had begun gradually over the previous three weeks. Her past medical history was significant for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), obesity and…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A 70-year-old woman had been diagnosed with rotator cuff disease three years earlier and received an array of treatments. What she hadn’t received was an X-ray. She’d had an MRI, and her doctor—not an orthopedist or a rheumatologist, but a primary care physician—had zeroed in on degenerative changes in her rotator cuff. The problem,…