Rheumatology
News, opinions and meeting coverage in rheumatology.
Make the Diagnosis: Why Did This Toddler Stop Walking?
Case Study: A fourteen-month-old boy had abruptly stopped bearing weight on his left lower extremity. Parents reported no history of trauma to the limb, but the boy’s medical history included undescended testes. On presentation, the patient had a fever of 100.4°F, which rose to 101.5°F He held his left leg externally rotated and flexed at the hip and refused to extend or bear weight on the limb or crawl. The left hip was tender, but without any palpable masses. He showed minimal signs of discomfort with passive rotation and axial loading. The passive range of motion of the hip showed limitations in extension and adduction.
Aug 27, 2014
Vaccines and Biologics: Questions Remain
Vaccinations for patients with autoimmune diseases -- specifically patients being treated with biologics -- bring with them a variety of issues, including disease-specific, medication-related, and vaccine-associated factors, researchers suggested.
May 24, 2014
Medtronic's Infuse Moves From Operating Room to Courtroom
An investigative series by 51˶/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been tracking the spinal fusion device called Infuse in a 4-year-long series and now reports how a flawed FDA system for device approval may have led to a long string of adverse events culminating in thousands of liability suits.
May 18, 2014
Rheuminations: Blame the Pain on the Rain?
Do your arthritis patients complain that their symptoms are influenced by the cold and wet weather? There's plenty of support for this, including a new study out of the Netherlands seeking to quantify this link and examine contributing factors.
Mar 16, 2014
Rituxan Offers Little Help for Sjogren's
Treatment for primary Sjogren's syndrome with the B-cell depleting antibody rituximab (Rituxan) failed to provide statistically significant improvements, despite the increasing evidence for B cells in the pathogenesis of this disorder, French researchers reported.
Feb 18, 2014
Killing Pain: Tramadol the 'Safe' Drug of Abuse
Almost 2 decades have passed since the FDA approved tramadol as a 'safe' opioid, but the intervening years provide evidence to question that 'safe' claim, as this latest investigation by John Fauber for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-51˶ revealed.
Dec 22, 2013