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Do Rheumatologists Use ACR/EULAR Guidance on Rheumatoid Arthritis? “Live Vote” Results
The June 2017 RheumNow “Live Vote” surveyed US and non-US rheumatologists and patients about how they diagnose and treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether they rely on newer diagnostic criteria and management guidelines propagated by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
Read ArticleHow Much Testing is Enough?
I saw a patient this past week with new onset polyarthralgia, which led me to ponder how my fellow rheumatologists would utilize laboratory testing in such a patient.
Read ArticleThe RheumNow Week in Review – 11 August 2017
The RheumNow Week in Review caps the week's news every Friday. Dr Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports and important events from the past week in rheumatology.
Read ArticleJoint Pain Linked to Increasing Temperature, Not Rainfall
Every rheumatologist knows and every rheumatic patient woes about the havoc weather inflicts on joint pains. Yet, research on this issue has seldom confirmed these impressions.
Read ArticleCriteria for Early Referrals from Primary Care
Early diagnosis and early intervention has been the mantra of all who manage musculoskeletal (MSK) diseases for decades. While the rules for referral may be clear to some, the lack of uniformity and promotion amongst primary care providers is less certain.
Read ArticleConcomitant Septic Arthritis and Crystalline Arthropathy
Researchers sought to describe the characteristics of patients with concurrent septic and crystal arthritis through a retrospective analysis of patients with the concomitant diagnoses between 1985-2015 at a university hospital in Spain.
Read ArticleHerpes Zoster
Today during the comorbidities in RA session, Dr. Leonard Calabrese spoke about herpes zoster (HZ).
Read ArticleTreat-to-Target in Spondyloarthropathies
Today's session, Treat to target in axSpA: reality or utopia?, was opened with a presentation by Dr. Jurgen Braun (Herne, Germany), who masterfully reintroduced us to the treat-to-target concept in spondyloarhtropathies.
Read ArticleRheumatic IRAEs Gaining Speed
Rheumatic IRAEs from checkpoint inhibitor therapy are growing rapidly in scope and rheumatologists must be aware of these complications, as they are certain to encounter this type of patient.
Read ArticleSpinal Manipulation Equal to NSAIDS for Acute Low Back Pain
JAMA has published a review of 15 RCTs (1711 patients) analyzing the role of spinal manipulation therapy in patients with acute low back pain. The authors found modest improvements in pain and function at up to 6 weeks, with temporary minor musculoskeletal harms.
Read ArticleThe RheumNow Week in Review – 31 March 2017
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the news and Advances in Targeted Therapies meeting in Mandelieu, France:
Tweeting this week from Advances in Targeted Therapies #ATT2017 in Mandelieu, France.
Read ArticleTop Ten Things Rheumatologists Should Know When Ordering Imaging
As a musculoskeletal radiologist, I work every day with rheumatologists. I have been in practice for approximately 17 years and had a musculoskeletal radiology fellowship prior to establishing my practice.
Read ArticleConsensus Guidelines for Juvenile Dermatomyositis Management
SHARE (Single Hub and Access point for pediatric Rheumatology in Europe) was established in 2012 to optimise the diagnosis and treatment of several pediatric diseases. They have recently published their recommendations regarding the diagnosis and management of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM).
Read ArticlePatient and Provider Education Fails to Improve Osteoarthritis Outcomes
A randomized trial of 537 knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients in the Duke Healthcare system has shown that patient- and provider interventions were no better than the usual standard of care.
Read ArticleASDAS Activity Correlates with Xray Progression in Spondyloarthritis
Investigators analyzed a prospective study of patients with early axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) to assess predictors of outcome.
Read ArticleThe ACR 2016 Playbook
For me and many others, this is the Super Bowl of meetings. I haven’t missed an ACR meeting since I started going as a fellow in 1984. In this span of 30 years I have acquired insights on how to navigate such a big meeting. When I say big, I mean over 14,000 attendees from over 100 countries swarming throughout a convention center that has the elements of the Texas state fair, a gigantic Costco (on Saturday), and a sold-out concert.
Read ArticleACP Gout Guidelines Reviewed and Critiqued by Rheumatologists
ACP released clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of gout. Interestingly, these are not always aligned with the 2012 ACR gout guidelines.
Read ArticleMy Take on New Ocular Screening Guidelines for Plaquenil
A recent article published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology presented new recommendations for screening of patients being managed with hydroxychloroquine that changed the previous monitoring paradigm. More importantly, it has repositioned hydroxychloroquine from one of the safest medications that rheumatologists use to a drug that can have potentially significant ocular morbidity (if used in doses greater than 5 mg per kilogram and or for prolonged periods of time).
RheumNow Week in Review – 7 October 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the journals and news this week on RheumNow.com.
Read ArticleCDC Says Prevalence of Severe Joint Pain is Rising
The October 7th edition of MMWR reports that severe joint pain (SJP) has significantly risen from 10.5 million in 2012 to 27.2% in 2014, based on recent NHIS surveys.
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