Shrinking lung syndrome (SLS) is a rare cause of dyspnea that has been most commonly described in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but is also found in systemic sclerosis, Sjögren’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Shrinking lung syndrome is characterized by a restrictive pattern on lung spirometry, despite normal lung parenchyma, and an elevated diaphragm.1…
“I think we learn from medicine everywhere that it is, at its heart, a human endeavor, requiring good science but also a limitless curiosity and interest in your fellow human being, and that the physician-patient relationship is key; all else follows from it.”1 These profound words from Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP, Linda R. Meier…
Pachydermoperiostosis (PDP), also known as Touraine-Solente-Golé syndrome or primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, is a rare syndrome that can be inherited as autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or sporadically. This progressive disease primarily affects males, who tend to have more severe features than females. PDP usually occurs during adolescence, often starting around puberty.1 The main clinical features are…
Promising Results from a Phase 3 Study SAN DIEGO—An investigational liposomal formulation of dexamethasone sodium phosphate (TLC599) for intra-articular injection is being studied to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). George Spencer-Green, MD, MS, chief medical officer of Taiwan Liposome Company (TLC), Cambridge, Mass., presented recent data on this agent in a late-breaking abstract session…
Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) who had relapsed while tapering glucocorticoid therapy were more likely to achieve sustained remission at one year and have a lower glucocorticoid exposure if they were treated with sarilumab (Kevzara) plus a rapid, 14-week glucocorticoid taper than if they received placebo plus a standard, 52-week glucocorticoid taper. This is according…
Background/Purpose Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) treatment is primarily based on long-term corticosteroids, which results in significant toxicities. Studies have shown that patients with PMR are exposed to years of corticosteroid treatment.1,2 In a single academic center cohort, we found that 76% of patients remained on steroids at the end of two years.3 In a second cohort…
At ACR Convergence 2023, experts addressed important topics in gout research, including treating and preventing gout flares, lowering urate levels and managing comorbidities, as well as racial inequities in gout treatment, disease burden and outcomes.
SAN DIEGO—As part of a panel on systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs) at a Nov. 15 scientific session of ACR Convergence 2023, Sivia Lapidus, MD, shared context and insights on the therapeutic management of patients with these conditions. The Spectrum of SAIDs SAIDs encompass a broad swath of individually rare disorders driven by innate immune responses…
SAN DIEGO—Panelists at ACR Convergence 2023 debate the merits of IL-6 inhibitors vs. glucocorticoids for the initial treatment of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR).
SAN DIEGO—In the Review Course at ACR Convergence 2023, Dr. Megan Clowse spoke on the subject of reproductive counseling for patients with rheumatic conditions, a topic that has been the focus of much of her research and scholarship.