Conditions

Subcategories:Axial Spondyloarthritis Gout and Crystalline Arthritis Guidelines Myositis Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders Other Rheumatic Conditions Pain Syndromes Pediatric Conditions Psoriatic Arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis Sjögren’s Disease Soft Tissue Pain Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Systemic Sclerosis Vasculitis

Letters: Biomarkers for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, PhD | May 15, 2015

Biomarkers for RA I read the article, “Finding Biomarkers in RA Remains Elusive Goal” (February 2015 The Rheumatologist), with great interest. The author correctly identifies the multi-biomarker disease activity assay (MBDA; Vectra DA) as a potential biomarker that identifies RA patients at risk for radiographic progression. The author names a study presented at the 2014…

Letters: Standardize Squeeze Test for Inflammatory Arthritis?

Dr. David Vega Morales | May 15, 2015

Squeeze Test in Inflammatory Arthritis, Need for Standardization? The first use of the squeeze test as a clinical maneuver to detect inflammatory arthritis in patients with hand problems was described by Recth in 1988, and Morton described its use for patients with foot problems.1,2 In 1991, Eberhardt and Rigby proposed the clinical maneuver be used…

Psoriatic Arthritis: Recognize, Manage Comorbidities

Karen Appold | May 15, 2015

As the literature on comorbidities linked to psoriatic arthritis (PsA) expands, it’s becoming more difficult for clinicians to keep up with what comorbidities should be assessed and how these comorbidities affect treatment selection. Given this, rheumatologists at the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Cleveland Clinic and Hospital for Special Surgery in New…

Rehabilitation, Therapy Goals for Scleroderma, Acroosteolysis

Lauren Tarsi and Marie B. Corkery, PT, DPT, MHS, FAAOMPT | May 15, 2015

Scleroderma is a rare rheumatologic autoimmune disease that affects the skin and can also affect other organs. Due to excess formation of scar tissue, blood flow to the extremities is decreased, primarily to the hands, and tissues often become hypoxic, resulting in sclerodactyly and proximal skin involvement.2 The incidence of scleroderma in the U.S. is…

Plaquenil: From Malaria Treatment to Managing Lupus, RA

Charles Radis, DO | May 15, 2015

In 1984, I wrote my first prescription for the antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), for a 28-year-old woman with SLE. She was considerably overweight, with inflammatory arthritis and a photosensitive rash, and I worried that oral corticosteroids would tip her over into diabetes. I presented the case to my attending, Steven Malawista, MD, at the Yale…

Diagnostic Imaging in Patient with Elbow Pain: History

Veronika Sharp, MD, Midori Jane Nishio, MD, and Lily Kao, MD | May 14, 2015

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 These images were taken of an 85-year-old female with a one-year…

Diagnostic Imaging in Patient with Elbow Pain: Findings

Veronika Sharp, MD, Midori Jane Nishio, MD, & Lily Kao, MD | May 14, 2015

View the question. Transverse (see Figure 1) and longitudinal (see Figure 2) ultrasound images show an anechoic collection (asterisks), which surrounds the distal biceps tendon (b). The collection is compressible (not shown here). The biceps tendon is heterogeneous in echo texture, with fiber dropouts and an irregular border (in the transverse view). The elbow joint…