ACR Convergence 2025| Video: Rheum for Everyone, Episode 26—Ableism

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Figure 2: High-resolution computed tomography showed evidence of interstitial lung disease.

High-resolution computed tomography shows evidence of ILD.

The ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice, a video
In collaboration with the American College of Chest Physicians, the ACR released two new comprehensive guidelines aimed at improving the screening, monitoring, and treatment of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) secondary to systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). Recently, Sindhu R. Johnson, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada, director of the Toronto Scleroderma Program and principal investigator for the guideline, and Elana J. Bernstein, MD, MSc, Florence Irving associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Columbia University, New York City, and co-first author, presented a webinar to talk about how the guidelines were developed and present some of the recommendations and their rationale: Watch the recording now!

 

What Rheumatologists Need to Know about Payer Audits

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Both government and private payers continue to aggressively monitor providers to prevent and recover overpayments. This is evidenced by the fact that the number of audits conducted in recent years has increased dramatically. A negative audit finding can result in the need to repay five- or seven-figure amounts. Types of Audits Private Payer Audits Private…

2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Genetic Links Emerge in Osteoarthritis

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SAN FRANCISCO—As researchers have delved into the genetics behind osteoarthritis (OA), genes that appear to be players in the disease have emerged, but there have also been curveballs thrown, with expectations not always matching up to the genetic realities, an expert said at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. The genetic risk of acquiring OA is…

2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Insights into the Microbiome

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SAN FRANCISCO—The organisms in the gut are remarkably malleable with diet, dangling the possibility that diseases could potentially be affected by the food that people eat, according to an expert here at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Diet Starting with studies of animal feces from zoos and from the wild, in which researchers found that…

2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Latest Clinical Literature Offers New Strategies in Lupus Nephritis

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SAN FRANCISCO—Rheumatologists have to look no further than the American College of Rheumatology guidelines to know that the options for patients with lupus nephritis are sometimes not very appealing. The first-line choices are either mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) plus glucocorticoids or cyclophosphamide (CYC), also with glucocorticoids—and all of their attendant side effects. The problem: evidence, said…

2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Skin Issues in Rheumatic Diseases Present Challenges

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SAN FRANCISCO—A 40-year-old woman shows up in the clinic with scarring alopecia, with an area of hyperpigmentation on the rim of her scalp, extending from just behind the temple to behind her ears. An examination with a dermatoscope shows hyperkeratotic follicular plugging. The case—in this example, the discoid form of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (DLE)—is one…

2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Research Lends Insight Into Osteoporosis Treatment, New Auto-Inflammatory Disease, Scleroderma

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SAN FRANCISCO—Post-menopausal women with osteoporosis, previously treated with oral bisphosphonates, had greater increases in bone density when taking denosumab compared with zoledronic acid over a year’s time, according to a study presented at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. The findings were discussed in the Discovery 2015 plenary session, which focused on new research. In the…

2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Immune Mediators Can Impact Inflammatory Response

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SAN FRANCISCO—Inflammation can be either acute or chronic, and it’s the inflammatory responses that don’t shut down normally, or resolve, that cause tissue damage in rheumatic disease. “Resolution bridges the gap between acute inflammation and adaptive immunity,” said Derek W. Gilroy, PhD, head of the Centre for Clinical Pharmacology and Professor of Immunology at University…

Rheumatology Patients Are Essential to the ACR’s Grassroots Advocacy

Kelly Weselman, MD  |  

Over the past several years, the ACR has collectively ramped up its advocacy efforts. Under the leadership of the Government Affairs Committee and with the combined advocacy efforts of many ACR/ARHP members and their patients, we made considerable progress advancing priority issues in 2015. With the ongoing effort of ACR members and patients, we can…