In 1949, the first description of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) given cortisone sent shockwaves through the medical community, quickly capturing the public imagination as well. The paradigm-shifting report paved the way for the use of cortisone and related drugs in RA and many other medical conditions.1 The following is a discussion of some of…
From the first substantial argument in the 19th century that uric acid played a role in gout, it took about 100 years for the medical community to accept its role in triggering acute inflammatory gout attacks. Two papers, both published in 1962, helped demonstrate the link between uric acid and acute gout attacks, quickly opening…
Scleroderma renal crisis is a true medical emergency in rheumatology, one that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. Here, we review the historic introduction of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in this context, and highlight management and key questions moving forward. Background Awareness of renal disease in scleroderma dates back many years. The revered physician William Osler…
Over 50 years ago, an article appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine: “Immunologic Factors and Clinical Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.”1 Written by a young postdoctoral fellow, Peter H. Schur, MD, and colleagues, the article synthesized important work in the field at the time. What follows is a discussion of the historical context…
In 1905, two pediatricians in Vienna, Austria, published Serum Sickness, a detailed 120-page monograph that was the first to carefully characterize the syndrome.1 The work would go on to become a classic, ultimately helping illuminate many important questions in immunology. Antitoxin Serum Treatments In the late 19th century, researchers were working to develop lifesaving antitoxins…
Given how unexpectedly front and center hydroxychloroquine has been in discussions about the treatment of COVID-19 this year, it makes sense to look at how it became so central to the treatment of a rheumatologic condition. In 1991, an article appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine that would alter the way rheumatologists approached…
Psoriatic arthritis came to be viewed as a distinct disease entity with specific clinical features, genetics and pathophysiology only gradually. One important historic development in this transition was a 1973 paper written by a pair of researchers out of Leeds, England: John M. Moll, BSc, DM, and Verna Wright, MD, FRCP.1 Here we discuss the…
Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) are now viewed as critical diagnostic and prognostic markers for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Research into the pathophysiology of these autoantibodies has proven to be a ripe area of investigation, opening up many promising avenues for better understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of RA. Ultimately, work utilizing these autoantibodies may also allow…
The disease called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) went through many different stages of classification before reaching the modern criteria reflecting our current understanding of its pathogenesis. In 1872, the Viennese dermatologist Moriz Kaposi, MD, published a paper, “New Contributions to Knowledge of Lupus Erythematosus,” which provided a significant leap forward in the characterization of this…
In 1866, Adolf Kussmaul, an internist, and Rudolf Maier, a pathologist, published the classic characterization of what eventually became known as polyarteritis nodosa.1 It was the first scientific clinical characterization of a noninfectious vasculitis. As such, it became a paradigmatic point of contrast to other types of vasculitides that were later described. Their description also…