Polymyositis News

SAN DIEGO — Although patients with dermatomyositis are often advised to use adequate sun protection and prescribed similar therapies as patients with cutaneous lupus, the impact of hydroxychloroquine differs significantly between these two groups, according to a presentation at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

SAN DIEGO — The use of electromyograms and nerve conduction studies are essential to excluding alternative diagnoses and confirming muscle disease when evaluating patients with suspected myopathic disorders, according to a presentation at the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology West.

ORLANDO — There are less then 350 pediatric rheumatologists currently practicing in the United States, representing a substantial barrier to care for the 300,000 children with arthritis, 30,000 with systemic lupus erythematosus and 3,000 with juvenile dermatomyositis across the country, according to Cathy Patty-Resk, MSN, RN-BC, CPNP-BC, president-elect of the Rheumatology Nurses Society.

A group of international researchers writing in Pediatric Rheumatology have proposed a plan for tapering and discontinuing glucocorticoids in patients with juvenile-onset dermatomyositis, based on changes in core set measures of disease activity in the first 6 months of treatment.

Political activism is more accessible than ever thanks to the amplification offered by social media, and rheumatologists can use social media — particularly Twitter — to advocate for the profession and their patients, according to Angus Worthing, MD, private practice rheumatologist and chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the American College of Rheumatology.

In the ever-changing landscape of the United States health care system, rheumatologists need a voice. They need a voice in managing the complex web of drug pricing structures, a voice in developing clinical guidelines, and, on a fundamental level, a voice in simply communicating with all the players involved in running the day-to-day operations of a rheumatology practice.

CLEVELAND — Patients with rosacea, livedoid vasculopathy and allergic contact dermatitis present with a multitude of dermatologic symptoms that rheumatologists can easily misdiagnose as rheumatic diseases, according to Anthony Fernandez, MD, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic.

DESTIN, Fla. — In a session here at Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, Joseph F. Merola, MD, MMSc, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, shared the dermatology approach to cutaneous lupus erythematosus, as well as valuable skin elements of dermatomyositis.

DESTIN, Fla. — Handheld dynamometry, a new, inexpensive and quantitative compact device, proved reliable and effective in evaluating muscle strength in a large cohort of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, and could serve as an objective alternative to manual muscle testing, according to a presenter at the 2019 North American Young Rheumatology Investigator Forum.

More than 620 registered attendees from 45 states and 11 countries are traveling to Destin, Florida, this week for the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, scheduled for May 2 to 5, according to David McLain, MD, FACP, FACR, where they will learn about a wide range of topics from speakers they may not hear anywhere else.