SAN FRANCISCO—Interstitial lung disease (ILD) represents a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by inflammation or fibrosis of the lungs. The disorders are also associated with a spectrum of connective tissue diseases (CTDs). ILD is a common manifestation of CTDs, such as scleroderma, poly-/dermatomyositis and rheumatoid arthritis—and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in…
SAN FRANCISCO—“We’ve known for a long time that prescription medications and illicit drugs can both mimic and actually induce the autoimmune syndromes treated by rheumatologists,” Jonathan Graf, MD, professor of medicine at the University of California–San Francisco in the Division of Rheumatology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH), said at the California Rheumatology Alliance…
SAN FRANCISCO—Lung involvement is a frequent and often life-threatening manifestation of the connective tissue diseases (CTDs) that are commonly encountered by rheumatologists. A variety of rheumatic diseases can affect the lungs, including systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, lupus, polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and Sjögren’s syndrome. A panel presentation on lung disease associated with rheumatic diseases at the…
SAN FRANCISCO—The heterogeneity of systemic vasculitis, a set of diseases characterized by inflammation of blood vessel walls, presents rheumatologists with diagnostic and treatment challenges, said Sharon A. Chung, MD, MAS, director of the University of California, San Francisco Vasculitis Clinic, at the California Rheumatology Alliance 2016 Scientific & Medical Meeting in May. She outlined emerging…
SAN FRANCISCO—“We haven’t made a lot of progress in ensuring the early diagnosis of spondyloarthritis,” said Walter Maksymowych, MD, FRCP, professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Alberta and chief medical officer at CaRE (Canadian Research and Education) Arthritis, both in Edmonton. Speaking at the California Rheumatology Alliance 2016 Medical…
SAN FRANCISCO—In a presentation on advances in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at the California Rheumatology Alliance 2016 Medical & Scientific Meeting in May, Maria Dall’Era, MD, director of the Lupus Clinic and Rheumatology Clinical Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, discussed the range of treatments that have been identified…
SAN FRANCISCO—Considerable progress has been made in the treatment and management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the past two decades, with rheumatologists now able to manage the effects of this chronic, debilitating condition for most of their patients, according to Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, director of the Amsterdam Rheumatology and Immunology Center (ARC) in the…
Advances in SLE, osteoporosis, and RA highlighted at California Rheumatology Alliance meeting.