Currently, treatment options for patients with peripheral spondyloarthritis, which includes psoriatic arthritis and non-psoriatic types, are limited. Philippe Carron, MD, Department of Rheumatology, Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, says, “One of the problems we encounter in the daily management of peripheral spondyloarthritis is that we have no other therapeutic options in patients refractory to NSAIDs [non-steroidal…
Higher anxiety levels in postmenopausal women may put them at increased risk of fracture and should be considered when assessing a woman’s risk of osteoporosis as well. This is the conclusion of a study recently published in the journal Menopause that looked at the role of anxiety in bone health.1 Specifically, the study examined the…
BALTIMORE—Understanding issues regarding pregnancy in women with rheumatic disease is important to patients and physicians alike, said Bonnie Bermas, MD, the Dr. Morris Ziff Distinguished Professor in Rheumatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, in her recent lecture at the Maryland Society for the Rheumatic Diseases.The physiologic changes in normal pregnancy, which include increased circulating…
Traditional X-rays, move over—there may be a new gold standard for joint imaging to assess even the smallest changes that can signal the onset of arthritis, as reported recently in the journal Scientific Reports.1 Utilizing the combined expertise of radiologists, rheumatologists and engineers, University of Cambridge researchers developed an algorithm to monitor the joints of…
Donah Zack Crawford, MA, was a research coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania, focused on premenstrual syndrome and perimenopause, when her symptoms first started. “Someone suggested I see a rheumatologist,” she says, and not long after, Philadelphia-based physician Bruce Hoffman, MD, diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis. It was the mid-1990s, and treatment options were limited….
The incidence of lupus nephritis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has decreased over the past 50 years, according to a study from Gabriella Moroni, who works in the Nephrology Unit at Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milano, Italy.1 Typically, renal involvement is part of the disease course for two-thirds of…
A patient Zachary Wallace, MD, MSc, met during his third year of medical school at Georgetown University helped lead him to his passion for rheumatology. He was completing a clinical rotation in medicine, and the experience made rheumatologic disease tangible for him. “She had lupus, and I became interested in her case,” he says. Later,…
The FDA has approved the use of sublingual sufentanil (Dsuvia) to treat acute pain in adults in a medically supervised setting…
In a long-term study, secukinumab proved safe and effective for treating ankylosing spondylitis…
Both private and academic rheumatology practices face payer challenges that put the health of their patients and their practices at risk. To make sure the rheumatologist perspective is heard by payers, “the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee (ISC) serves as the interface between payers and our members and ACR colleagues,” explains Sean Fahey, MD, a rheumatologist in…