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

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis, Periodontal Disease Link Suggests Benefits in Behavioral Change

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Although compelling data exist to support a link between periodontal disease (PD) and the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cementing the association will require extensive investigative work.1 However, in reviewing the literature of the past 10 years, Elliot D. Rosenstein, MD, director, Institute for Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases at Overlook Medical Center, Summit, N.J., and…

Rheumatoid Arthritis Practice Performance Project Spots Problems in RA Management

Erin Arnold, MD, William Arnold, MD, Douglas Conaway, MD, Gary Crump, MD, Edmund LaCour, MD, James Mossell, DO, Glen Parris, MD, Kathleen Thomas, DO, David Sikes, MD, Anne Winkler, MD, PhD, MACP, Timothy Harrington, MD, & James Bower, MPA  |  

Rheumatologists have growing concerns about how we manage rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the disease outcomes we are achieving.1 Over the past two years, clinician rheumatologists have begun working together to address these problems through the Rheumatoid Arthritis Practice Performance (RAPP) Project, a nationwide clinical quality-improvement initiative. The RAPP Project has now grown to 168 participants…

Glucocorticoid Use for Rheumatoid Arthritis Still Sparks Debate

Anand N. Malaviya, MD, FRCP, Master-ACR  |  

Glucocorticoids: The Debate Continues Déjà vu … In past decades, rheumatologists have seen, heard, practiced and taught much of what has been argued in the “ongoing debate” on the use of glucocorticoids (GCs) in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 It is heartening to note that eminent professors have stuck to their premise all these…

Better Evidence Supports Slightly Revised Treat-to-Target Recommendations for RA

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A number of recent studies support last year’s update of 2010 treat-to-target recommendations for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to the international task force that revised them. Dr. Josef S. Smolen from Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and colleagues updated their 2010 advice based on systematic literature reviews and expert opinion. They left…

Rheumatologist Recalls Personal Experience with RA

Monica Piecyk, MD  |  

In late March 2012, I awoke with pain in my left hand. I had difficulty moving my metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints. They did not move smoothly, but clunked. As I repeatedly attempted to open and close my hand, I realized that I had morning stiffness. As the pain and stiffness gradually improved over the next hour,…

Letters: Biomarkers for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, PhD  |  

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…

Plaquenil: From Malaria Treatment to Managing Lupus, RA

Charles Radis, DO  |  

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…