Is there an increased risk of cancer once a patient has Scleroderma? If so, what is the risk and how does one go about showing this? Dr. Ami A Shah, Director of the Division of Rheumatology at Johns Hopkins sits down with us to explain those answers. We go over the methods, results and conclusions of the recent study Distinct Scleroderma Autoantibody Profiles Stratify Patients for Cancer Risk at Scleroderma Onset and During the Disease Course published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Afterward,...
Apr 02, 2024•25 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Welcome back to “Journals”! Our topic of discussion today comes from the manuscript Anti-Gephyrin Antibodies: A Novel Specificity in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis and Lower Bowel Dysfunction and our guest today is the study’s first author, Dr. Zsuzsanna McMahan. The study recognizes that the enteric nervous system (ENS) regulates the gastrointestinal (GI) function, which is commonly impaired in those who suffer from systemic sclerosis (SSc). Dr. McMahan and her team’s objective for this study...
Mar 19, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Dr. Tobit Steinmetz is our guest this week, author of the manuscript recently published in “Arthritis and Rheumatology” titled: "Association of Circulating Antibody-Secreting Cell Maturity with Disease Features in Primary Sjogren's Syndrome." Dr. Steinmetz and his team endeavored to better understand the hyperactivity observed among B cells, which play a major role in Primary Sjogren’s Syndrome (SS). To do this, he and the team examined the quantity, maturity and inflammatory properties of Antib...
Mar 05, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 38
After a major event, it’s important to take stock of the causes of such an event, but just as important, on the reactions to it. No other event has challenged humanity in recent memory like COVID-19. Today we discuss the pandemic in relationship to its impact on those who suffer with rheumatic disease and examine the global response. Our guest is Dr. Evelyn Hsieh, MD, PhD, the first author of the paper: Global Perspective on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Rheumatology and Health Equity ,...
Feb 20, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Sometimes, we learn more from what isn’t achieved than when we achieve an expected result. Such is the case for our next guest, Dr. David R. Jayne, who is the first author of Clinical and Biomarker Responses to BI 655064, an Antagonistic Anti-CD40 Antibody, in Patients With Active Lupus Nephritis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase II Trial , a study designed to characterize a dose-response relationship between an anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody known as Bi 655064 and complete r...
Feb 06, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Knowing that glucocorticoids significantly increase the risk of fractures and is the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis, the use of the steroid has always been viewed as a doubled edged sword and “Bad for the Bones”. This week, we welcome Dr. Giovanni Adami, first author of Bone Loss in Inflammatory Rheumatic Musculoskeletal Disease Patients Treated with Low-Dose Glucocorticoids and Prevention by Anti-Osteoporosis Medications , whose goal for this study was to assess if a “safe” dose of...
Jan 23, 2024•33 min•Season 2Ep. 35
The pandemic has changed much in our world—from the way we work, to the way we shop, and even the way we learn. Rheumatology wasn’t immune from such changes and when medical institutions needed to adjust their practices to accommodate a changing world around them, the process by which fellowship interviews were conducted needed to change as well. Thus, a shift to the video communication platform Zoom was made. Now, as the pioneering cohorts of the new Zoom matching process graduate, we are joine...
Jan 09, 2024•38 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Our next guest, Dr. Paul Monach, reviews “ Complement ”, focusing on its application in the clinical setting. In his work, Dr. Monach presents a typical case with a broad differential diagnosis, then provides an overview of the complement system along with clinical diseases with complement-driven mechanisms. Dr. Shanmugam reviews this manuscript published in Arthritis & Rheumatology plus an analysis of the laboratory tests. Later in the show, Dr. Monach gives us his insights on how he combin...
Dec 12, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 33
End-stage renal disease is a dangerous reality for those who suffer from Lupus Nephritis (LN), despite improvements in immunosuppressive therapy in the last 20 years. Our next guest, Dr. Brad H Rovin, MD, FACP, FASN, is the first author of the manuscript “ Kidney-Related Outcomes and Steroid-Sparing Effects in Patients with Active Lupus Nephritis Treated with Obinutuzumab: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Phase 2 Trial. ” which was recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. This study was a pos...
Nov 28, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 32
This week on ‘Journals’, we turn our attention to a rare but challenging and heart-breaking complication of rheumatic disease, Congenital Heart Block. Sir Deryck and Lady Va Maughan Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the Division of Rheumatology at New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Jill Buyon joins us today to present her latest research “ Prospective Evaluation of Anti-SSA/Ro Pregnancies Supports the Utility of High Titer Antibodies and Fetal Home Monitoring for the Detection o...
Nov 14, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 31
This week on ‘Journals’, we’ll look at not just one, but two studies that endeavored to define knee osteoarthritis (OA) through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imagery. The manuscripts we’ll be discussing are: Development of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Based Definition of Knee Osteoarthritis: Data From the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study Diagnostic accuracy of candidate MRI knee osteoarthritis definitions versus radiograph in an acute anterior cruciate ligament injury cohort Our guest is lead...
Oct 31, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 30
This week we welcome our next guest, Dr. John D. Pauling to ‘Journals’. Dr. Pauling is the senior author of the manuscript “Assessment of the Systemic Sclerosis-Associated Raynaud’s Phenomenon Questionnaire: Item Bank and Short Form Development”, which endeavored to “develop, refine and score a novel patient-reported outcome instrument to assess the severity and impact of Raynaud’s Phenomenon (RP) in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc)”. In this episode, we discuss the challenges associated with measuring ...
Oct 17, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Assessing disease activity in large vessel vasculitis can be a challenge. And as imaging techniques evolve, clinicians must evaluate how to harness new imaging modalities in clinical care. In an attempt to predict the progression of large vessel vasculitis (LVV), our next guest, Dr. Kaitlin Quinn, used the vascular activity seen on a fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan to determine if there is an observable association with angiographic change. Dr. Quinn, author of the...
Oct 03, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 28
This week our guest is Dr. Joyce Chang, MD, MSCE, a recipient of the Lupus Foundation of America’s “Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Award”, who shares her latest study, its methods, conclusions and career journey with us! Dr. Chang’s latest study “ Improving Outcomes of Pediatric Lupus Care Delivery With Provider Goal-Setting Activities and Multidisciplinary Care Models “ used the pediatric Lupus Care Index (pLCI) and population management strategies for improving outcomes in childhood SLE...
Sep 19, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) need rehabilitation to improve functional limitations and slow disability. But in what doses? Using the FORWARD databank, our next guest Dr. Kaleb Michaud, PhD, identified a cohort and gathered data on rehabilitation dose and their functional outcomes. His study’s objective (titled: “ Examining Rehabilitation Dose in Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Association With Baseline Factors and Change in Clinical Outcomes “) determine if there was a meaningful ch...
Sep 05, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Photosensitivity among patients with SLE is a well-known symptom. However, what is not well-known is why. Our guest this week, Dr. J. Michelle Kahlenberg MD, PhD and team, endeavored to uncover that answer. The article, “ Regulation of Photosensitivity by the Hippo Pathway in Lupus Skin ” was the result of this study, which was published in “Arthritis & Rheumatology” earlier this year. Dr. Kahlenberg joins us for this episode to discuss the study’s methods, results and its surprising conclus...
Aug 22, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 25
It has only been three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re only just now beginning to investigate the impact it has had on our collective societies. The full impact will likely not be known for years to come, if ever. As those studies are beginning, our next guests wanted to evaluate the pandemic’s impact in their spheres of interest. First author, Dr. Kristie Kuhn, MD, PhD along with Dr. Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH and team asked the question: “What is the impact of COVID on ou...
Aug 08, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 24
This week, we take a look at the practical management of pain and the advancement of science regarding it, with our guest Dr. Dan Clauw. Co-author of the paper: “ Identifying and Managing Nociplastic Pain in Individuals With Rheumatic Diseases: A Narrative Review ”, Dr. Clauw joins us today to discuss the work to introduce the three types of pain classified by “The International Association for the Study of Pain” and the mechanisms that underlie pain, as it relates to the field of rheumatology....
Jul 25, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Our guest this week is Dr. April Barnado, the first author of a study which analyzed a cohort of 3.2 million patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), during pregnancy, from 1989 to 2020. Her team’s work, titled “ Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Delivery Outcomes Are Unchanged Across Three Decades “ was published in “ACR Open Rheumatology”, and found some amazing trends regarding outcomes of the pregnancies and even in medication use. The study, its methods, conclusions and Dr. Barnado’s ad...
Jul 11, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Our guest this week is Dr. Tony Merriman, whose latest work: “ Association of Gout Polygenic Risk Score With Age at Disease Onset and Tophaceous Disease in European and Polynesian Men With Gout “, attempted to determine whether a gout polygenic risk score (PRS) is associated with age at gout onset and tophaceous disease in European, East Polynesian, and West Polynesian men and women with gout. However, what this study found regarding the predictability of these associations, specifically how it ...
Jun 27, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 21
This week we get to “The Heart of the Matter” a little differently. To begin, our guest is the first author of a manuscript whose objective was to determine the prevalence and correlation of subclinical myocardial inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), titled: “ Myocardial Inflammation, Measured using 18-FDG-PET-CT is associated with Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis “. Her name is Dr. Isabelle Amigues, and her story of survival and reinvention (much like the conclusions...
Jun 13, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Our guest this week, Dr. Alexandru-Emil Matei, is the first author of a study that endeavored to evaluate immune cell activation in scleroderma. His study, written for the completion of his medical training in Romania is titled: “ Identification of a Distinct Monocyte-Driven Signature in Systemic Sclerosis Using Biophysical Phenotyping of Circulating Immune Cells“ (recently published in “Arthritis & Rheumatology”) performed biophysical phenotyping of circulating immune cells by employing a n...
May 30, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Caring for older adults who suffer from rheumatic disease comes with it the need to manage multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and geriatric syndromes. Often, shifting priorities for those suffering with rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) is needed, sometimes leading to a prescribing cascade. The practice of ‘deprescribing’, an approach to optimize medication use to deliver a more ‘goal-concordant’ type of care was the focus of Dr. Una Makris and Dr. Jiha Lee’s latest research: “ Optimizing Med...
May 16, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In a study recently published in “ACR Open Rheumatology” titled: “ Geographic Variation in Disease Burden and Mismatch in Care of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in the United States “, first author Dr. Sharon Dowell set out to understand some of the factors associated with regional variation of rheumatoid arthritis in the United States. Sharon Dowell, MD presents her study’s findings and conclusions. ACR’s RISE Team member, Tracy Johansson, MS, joins us as well to discuss how RISE attempts t...
May 02, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Pulmonary hypertension (PH), being a serious complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc), develops late in the course of SSc and carries with it a poor prognosis. With the median survival of about 3 years, new evidence suggests that early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve survival. Joining us this week is Christopher P Denton PhD FRCP, senior author of “ Dynamic Prediction of Pulmonary Hypertension in Systemic Sclerosis Using Landmark Analysis, ” published in Arthritis and Rheumatol...
Apr 18, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Dr. Joshua Baker, first author of a paper recently published in “Arthritis & Rheumatology”, “ Associations Between Low Serum Urate, Body Composition, and Mortality “, is our guest today. Dr. Baker, recognizing the controversy in whether low serum urate or uric acid (UA) level contribute to adverse outcomes, set out to evaluate the relation between low serum UA levels and sarcopenia, to assess whether sarcopenia confounds associations between these low levels and mortality....
Apr 04, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 15
When rheumatology concepts battle it out in a team bracket tournament, you get “Rheum Madness”! “ A place for everyone who is crazy about rheumatology to connect, collaborate and compete ” in an online, learning experience, created by Dr. David Leverenz. His body of work, “ Rheum Madness: Creating an Online Community of Inquiry ”, featured in this episode, analyzes participant engagement and the presence of the online community of inquiry within its first year. Dr. Leverenz is an educator and rh...
Mar 21, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Osteoarthritis is incredibly common, affecting more than 500 million people across the globe. It is a significant cause of pain and disability and carries high healthcare costs and societal burdens. Around the world, there are not enough rheumatology specialists to treat all the patients with OA, and in many countries, OA management is coordinated by primary care internists. However, despite good guidelines recommending first-line evidence-based treatments with muscle strengthening, physical act...
Mar 07, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this week’s episode, we’ll be looking at a paper recently published in “ACR Open Rheumatology” titled: “ Machine Learning Applied to Patient-Reported Outcomes to Classify Physician-Derived Measures of Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity “. This study used machine learning tools to investigate whether longitudinal patient-reported outcome data can be a proxy for Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), presenting interesting findings that may impact the practice of rheumatology. Our guest thi...
Feb 21, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This week, we welcome Dr. Ruth Fernandez Ruiz to our show, a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Dr. Fernandez Ruiz’s award-winning work focuses on the interplay of genetic variation, type I interferons, and immune dysregulation in lupus. However, her latest study published in “Arthritis & Rheumatology” entitled: Supporting International Medical Graduates in Rheumatology: A Call to Action ...
Feb 07, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 11
