Wisdom

Travel During COVID-19 Pandemic

Save

The CDC has addressed the effects and the issues of domestic and international travel on its website.  Below is a sampling of key advice.

2020 Rheumatology Year in Review

Save

2020 was historic, memorable and game-changing. Under the cloud of COVID-19, there were many significant and memorable advances and setbacks for the rheumatology world. In our accounting of most read articles for 2020, (not surprisingly) 17/20 were COVID-related. Below, are our top news items

Delays in Diagnosis of Axial Spondyloarthritis

Save

The diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (and anklylosing spondylitis) (axSpA) is often delayed and usually not diagnosed by rheumatologists; a recent metanalysis shows that longer delays were attributable to lower education levels, younger age at onset and absence of extra-articular

RheumNow Podcast – Lights, Camera, Zoom (1.8.2021)

Save

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and favorite blogs from this past week on RheumNow.com.

Telemedicine Less Utilized in the South and Urban Areas

Save

MMWR has reported on a July 2020 survey study from 1,009 Health Resources and Services Administration–funded health centers showing that urban Health centers were more likely to provide virtual visits than those in rural areas.

Telehealth has expanded healthcare access, especially in

Best of 2020: New EULAR/ACR Classification Criteria for SLE

Save

The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) have jointly developed new classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); prompted by the need for criteria that were both highly sensitive and specific. The net result is improved

Best of 2020: Infusions in the Time of Coronavirus

Save

After years of bemoaning the challenges of telemedicine, our rheumatology clinic transition entirely to a remote clinic in the space of a week. One of the few good things to come out of this crisis is that we may learn that in-person visits are not as critical as we thought, which may in turn

ACIP Recommendations for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Use (including Special Populations)

Save

Following the FDA issuance of an Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued interim recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19 in persons aged ≥16 years. 

The PfizerCOVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2

Encouraging Rheumatology Fellowship Match for 2021

Save

The results of the National Residents Matching Program (NRMP) match in rheumatology are out and show that rheumatology fellowship was both competitive and highly sought after.

Rheumatology was among the most competitive of subspecialties, that included Allergy and Immunology,

Check Out the Virtual ACR Playbook

Save

If you need a plan for this weekend's ACR meeting, check out and download our latest, "Virtual ACR 2020 Playbook". The playbook covers: setting virtual learning goals, sessions you probably shouldn't miss, how to still have peer interactions, what to do if you only have time to "dabble' - and

Are Rheums Attending ACR 2020?

Save

ACR 2020 (aka ACR Convergence) is just around the corner, with the opening ceremonies and lecture starting Thursday, November 5th; followed by the full meeting beginning the next morning, Friday November 6th. 

FDA Hearing on COVID-19 Vaccines

Save

Yesterday the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) "Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee"

High Burnout Rates Among Rheumatologists

Save

Bergman and colleagues have studied a large cohort of US rheumatologists and found that nearly half meet at least one criterion defining "burnout" among physicians.

While attending the annual rheumatology review meeting in 2019 (Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium) 128

TNF Inhibitors or non-TNF Biologics - First Best Choice?

Save

Prospective observational findings from the CORRONA registry of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared clinical outcomes between initial aggressive therapy using either a tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) or a non-TNFi (biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) and

COVID Transmission from Young to Old

Save

The CDC has analyzed temporal trends in percent positivity by age group in COVID-19 hotspot counties before and after their identification as hotspots. Among 767 hotspot counties identified during June and July 2020, early increases in the percent positivity among persons aged ≤24 years were

2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to the Discovery of Hepatitis C

Save

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus. These three scientists made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne

Defining Difficult Rheumatoid Arthritis

Save

‘Difficult-to-treat RA’ is an oft-used term that carries various clinical qualities and therapeutic disappointments. A EULAR Task Force was established to develop recommendations for the management of difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis and as a first step, have put forth their definition of