Patient involvement a valuable tool, especially in less common rheumatic disorders.
EULAR 2012: Systemic Sclerosis That Doesn’t Fit the Mold
This disease presents a range of hard-to-solve clinical difficulties.
The Forward View in Rheumatology
Future leaders convene at the ACR/Arthritis Foundation Rheumatology Research Workshop to discuss cutting-edge research and career development.
ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting Plenary Highlights Targets and Treatments for Several Diseases
Promising therapeutic targets for rheumatic diseases were the focus of a plenary session here at the ACR/ARHP 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting in November. Presenters discussed discoveries and treatments for systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, and Behçet’s disease.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs May Cut Cardiovascular Risk
Other studies at the ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting in November examined arthritis treatment, scleroderma screening.
Link between Autoimmunity and Environmental Exposure Needs Further Research
Rheumatology needs further cost-effective and validated methods to track the connection between environmental exposure and autoimmune diseases, including research on phenotypes, genotypes, the synergy between multiple infectious and noninfectious exposures, the timing of exposure, and the mechanisms involved, according to presenters of “Impact of Environmental Health on Autoimmunity,” a session here at the 2011 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting held in Chicago in November 2011.
Dermatology Case Review
A 64-year-old man with history of type-II diabetes (well controlled on sitagliptin/metformin), hypertension, and dyslipidemia presents with complaints of an increasingly painful left lower-extremity lesion present for two to three months.
Dermatology Case Answer
A 64-year-old man with history of type-II diabetes (well controlled on sitagliptin/metformin), hypertension, and dyslipidemia presents with complaints of an increasingly painful left lower-extremity lesion present for two to three months.
Dermatology Case Review
A 33-year-old woman presents with somewhat pruritic, nodular lesions worsening over the past three months in the site of a newly placed tattoo. The nodules are restricted to certain portions of the tattoo only.
Pain Perspective in Scleroderma
Systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) is a disease in which inflammatory and fibrotic changes result in overproduction and accumulation of collagen and other extracellular matrix proteins, resulting in intimal vascular damage, fibrosis, and occasionally organ dysfunction affecting the gastrointestinal, lung, heart, and renal systems. There are two classifications of SSc—limited cutaneous or CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud’s, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangectasias) syndrome, where skin thickening occurs mainly in the distal extremities and facial/neck areas and internal organ involvement, if present, occurs later in the disease process; and diffuse cutaneous disease where there is a more rapid progression of skin thickening from distal to proximal and organ involvement can be severe and occur early in the disease. As noted by various authors, there is no “crystal ball” into which one can look to see the outcome of the disease, and involvement varies significantly from one person to the next.