Sjögren’s Syndrome News

CHICAGO — Rheumatologists, as well as the rheumatology specialty as a whole, must become more aware of, and develop treatments and guidelines for, the problem of rheumatologic side effects related to checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to Peter A. Merkel, MD, MPH, of the University of Pennsylvania.

The use of wearable devices that track movement is effective in significantly increasing the amount of and time spent performing moderate to vigorous physical activity, with high short-term adherence, among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

The 2018 Rheumatic Disease Report Card: Raising the Grade on Rheumatology Care in America released today by the American College of Rheumatology demonstrates that access to affordable rheumatology care varied considerably from state to state, with most states averaging a “C” grade.

We begin with a 24-year-old previously healthy female presenting with gradual worsening — over the last few months — migraine-like headaches accompanied by nausea but no vomiting. She was in a usual state of health when she started getting headaches, that were described as intermittent with a deep ache sensation. The headaches were unilateral and would switch from left to right and sometimes occur between the eyes. The patient described the severity as 8 out of 10. The headaches did not wake her from sleep, and she was unsure of what triggered them. She denied hearing loss, tinnitus, numbness or tingling of extremities, weakness, joint pain, joint swelling or rashes. She reported no new medications.

Just 32.1% of reproductive-age women with rheumatic diseases use any kind of prescription contraception, while at the same time more than 70% use at least one fetotoxic medication, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Physicians and rheumatologists can use a two-factor interferon score and family history to predict a patient’s progression from being antinuclear-antibody positive to developing autoimmune connective tissue diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus or Sjögren’s syndrome, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Although salivary gland ultrasonography is not a reliable diagnostic predictor of Sjögren’s syndrome in all cases, it is more predictive among advanced or severe cases of the disease, according to a poster presentation at the Rheumatology Nurses Society Annual Conference.

Johns Hopkins Hospital has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals Survey as the top-ranked hospital in the country for rheumatology for the 2018 to 2019 year.

Healio Rheumatology is proud to announce the launch of Rheuminations, a podcast series hosted by Adam Brown, MD, focusing on medical mysteries and other ripping yarns of the immune system gone awry.

The risk for autoimmune disease among teenage girls does not increase after they receive the quadrivalent HPV vaccine, according to findings published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.