WASHINGTON, D.C.—It is no small task to summarize an entire year’s worth of research accomplishments in any field of medicine, let alone one as complex as rheumatology. At ACR Convergence 2024, the Pediatric Year in Review not only provided a thoughtful summary, but also grouped advances along several different themes. Immune Health & More Jessica…
According to a new study, fibromyalgia prevalence is elevated in PsA and is associated with elevated disease measures, confounding reliable disease assessment for treat-to-target goals.
Editor’s note: What research on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) presented at ACR Convergence 2024 has the greatest potential for a positive impact on clinical care, treatment options or serve as the basis for future research? That’s the question The Rheumatologist asked David S. Pisetsky, MD, PhD—our founding editor—to consider. Dr. Pisetsky, a professor of medicine and immunology…
Why was this study done? Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is the most common type of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy in childhood, and most patients have a chronic disease course requiring prolonged administration of systemic glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents. The initial management for patients with moderately severe JDM is relatively standardized, typically including methotrexate and systemic glucocorticoids with…
Lupus Fog? By Laura C. Plantinga, PhD, Patricia P. Katz, PhD, S. Sam Lim, MD, MPH, C. Barrett Bowling, MD, MSPH, & Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH Why was this study done? Perceived cognitive impairment (i.e., lupus fog) is common in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, comprehensive, multidomain assessments of objective cognitive function are rarely performed….
The large vessel vasculitides were a major focus of the 21st International Vasculitis Workshop held in Barcelona in April. The biennial conference brings together specialists from multiple disciplines, including rheumatology, nephrology and immunology, to discuss cutting-edge vasculitis research. This article reviews important points regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of both giant cell arteritis and…
Most Sunday mornings, I make myself an exceptional cup of pour-over coffee and sit down on my deck with the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. I check out the image of the week. I read the case report with pen in hand, racing to diagnose the patient before the authors spill…
Mannion et al. set out to describe the adult rheumatology workforce in the U.S. by measuring the number of rheumatologists and advanced practice providers entering and exiting the field and studying their demographics.
Methotrexate—an affordable, established drug for rheumatoid arthritis—may also be helpful for patients suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand, a recent study reports.1 Treatment of hand OA and inflammation with 20 mg of methotrexate for six months had a moderate, but potentially clinically meaningful, effect on reducing pain and stiffness in patients with symptomatic hand…
Hoy et al. sought to evaluate the presence, clinical associations, and potential mechanistic roles of circulating calprotectin in a cohort of patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and those with antiphospholipid antibodies. Calprotectin levels were higher in patients with primary APS and those with antiphospholipid antibodies than in healthy controls. These data suggest that calprotectin has the potential to be a functional biomarker and a new therapeutic target for APS-related thrombocytopenia.