Full implementation of ICD-10 will go live on Oct. 1, 2015, and congressional leaders have confirmed there will be no further delays. The transition to ICD-10 is not just a simple update; it is a major revamping of diagnosis coding. With the complexity of coding using the ICD-10 system and the high risk of disruptions…
CHICAGO—With the approval of the Jak inhibitors (i.e., jakinibs) tofacitinib and ruxolitinib—and others being investigated—rheumatologists need to arm themselves with an understanding of these drugs so they can think critically when evaluating them and deciding how to use them, said John O’Shea, MD, chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch of and scientific director…
CHICAGO—Stem cell transplantation for systemic sclerosis patients has come a long way over the past decade, with more finely calibrated dosing and better patient selection, said George Georges, MD, associate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and associate professor in the medical oncology division at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle,…
CHICAGO—Scleroderma patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) might benefit from more aggressive therapy, an expert in the field said in a session on lung involvement in rheumatic diseases at the American College of Rheumatology’s 2015 State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in May. Newer trials—the SERAPHIN trial on macitentan, GRIPHON on selexipag, and AMBITION on an ambrisentan/tadalafil combination—show…
CHICAGO—David Daikh, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco and chief of the Rheumatology Division at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, said the overlap between malignant disease and rheumatic disease means rheumatologists should stay aware that more may be going on than just a rheumatic disorder. He made his…
CHICAGO—A 49-year-old woman has had RA for eight years. She has a rheumatoid factor reading of 35, an aCCP reading of 160, erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 42, plus erosions. She has been on methotrexate. She tried etanercept for six months, but then it stopped working. She was on 40 mg of adalimumab weekly, but it…
There can be a rhythm to rheumatology. At least that’s what Alain Alvarez, MD, can sometimes find. Listening, assessing, helping. It can be a successful dance when doctor and patient become partners, hoping to lead each other forward. When you consider this, it might be little surprise that Dr. Alvarez is also a dance teacher….
Arthritis Center Renamed to Honor Ephraim P. Engleman, MD Ephraim P. Engleman, MD, has been on the faculty at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) since 1947, 10 years after he received his MD from Columbia University. The 104-year-old rheumatologist is currently the director of the Rosalind Russell/Ephraim P. Engleman Rheumatology Research Center, which…
PSOLAR, the Psoriasis Longitudinal Assessment and Registry, is a multicenter, longitudinal, intercontinental, disease-based registry used to identify adverse events from commonly used psoriasis drugs.1 An evaluation of the risk of serious infection from systemic psoriasis treatments was recently published using data from PSOLAR. Ninety-three institutional review boards or ethics committees reported into the registry from…
Editor’s note: In this recurring feature, we first present a series of images (this page) for your review, and then a brief discussion of the findings and diagnosis. Before you turn to the discussion, examine these images carefully and draw your own conclusions. History A 56-year-old man with end-stage renal disease on peritoneal dialysis presents…