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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Don’t Forget the Host: COVID-19 Cytokine Storm

Randy Q. Cron, MD, PhD, & W. Winn Chatham, MD  |  

The new coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19, reminds us how we have struggled to keep ahead of mutating pathogens through the ages.

Winter 2020’s Awards, Appointments & Announcements in Rheumatology

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2019 Lupus Foundation of America Gary S. Gilkeson Career Development Awards Emily Smitherman, MD, assistant professor, pediatric rheuma­tology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Children’s of Alabama, one of four recipients of the Gary S. Gilkeson Career Development Awards, is interested in identifying predictors for differences in disease activity within the pediatric population. To accomplish…

Pediatric Cases Require Special Considerations & Aggressive Treatment Plans

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ATLANTA—Managing pediatric patients with rheumatic disease involves special considerations, such as developmental concerns and physiological traits that may affect dosing of medications, according to two experts. During a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, Courtney Kremer, ARNP, a pediatric nurse practitioner at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, and Jessica…

Harnessing Genomics in the Rare Diseases Realm

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ATLANTA—The increasing ease and the lowering cost of genome and exome sequencing make discovery and diagnosis of rare diseases more feasible than ever, but hurdles still need to be cleared before the world of medicine can fully harness the power of this information boom, experts said in a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting….

Clinicians Discuss Current & Future Rheumatoid Arthritis Approaches

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ATLANTA—When it comes to treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, most clinicians agree: One size does not fit all. Many treatment options exist, and seldom is there 100% consensus on what the first course of action or general approach should be. In the face of such variability, four clinicians took the stage at the 2019 ACR/ARP…

Premenopausal Osteoporosis Poses Special Clinical Challenges

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ATLANTA—Osteoporosis in premenopausal women is uncommon compared with its frequency in post-menopausal women, but when it is suspected, it poses some difficult questions for clinicians: How should it be diagnosed in this understudied population? If found, should it be treated—and how? Elizabeth Shane, MD, professor of medicine at Columbia University and attending physician at New…

Experts Discuss Current Insurance Issues Challenging Rheumatology

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ATLANTA—From step therapy requirements to infusion center locations to evaluation and management coding, insurance issues bring frequent headaches to clinicians and patients. Experts discussed some of the most recent concerns in a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. Chris Phillips, MD, chair of the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee (ISC), and Gary Bryant, MD, delegate to…

A Public Health Approach to Arthritis

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ATLANTA—Rheumatic diseases have been the subject of a range of public health campaigns and reports over the past decade, but improving their visibility remains a work in progress, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expert said at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. A growing attention to pain and the opioid crisis may help…

FDA Update: New Drug Approvals, New & Expanded Indications, & More

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ATLANTA—New drug approvals, new and expanded drug indications, and important safety and other updates relevant for rheumatologists were presented by three physicians from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Nov. 11 at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. New JAK Inhibitor Approved for RA On Aug. 16, 2019, the FDA approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq), an…

The ACR Introduces a New Reproductive Health Guideline

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Reproductive health can be a concern for patients with rheumatic diseases, and practitioners in both rheumatology and obstetrics/gynecology often work closely together. The 2020 ACR Guideline for the Management of Reproductive Health in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases, new clinical recommendations developed by an ACR-convened group for pregnant women, post-menopausal women, lactating women, and women and…