Rheum Advisor on Air

Larry Luxner, senior correspondent for Rare Disease Advisor, interviews Christine Há — a blind chef who not only won Season 3 of the reality TV show "MasterChef" in 2012 but went on to write a bestselling cookbook and later opened two restaurants in Houston, Texas. Há, who has neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, is the public face of the new campaign "NMOSD Won't Stop Me."

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and lupus are the most common rheumatic diseases in children. However, more than 500,000 children develop other rheumatic diseases. The diagnosis, treatment, and management of these conditions often require a multidisciplinary approach owing to the diverse clinical manifestations that present in this patient population.

In light of Rare Disease Day 2022, we spoke with Emily von Scheven, MD, a pediatric rheumatologist at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital and the executive committee chair of CARRA, and Vincent Del Gaizo, director of partnerships and patient engagement for CARRA and a parent of a pediatric patient with rheumatic disease.

Rheumatologists and neurologists are known to manage and collaborate between their specialties in the care of patients with shared diagnoses, such as disorders of the central nervous system, like giant cell arthritis and neuropsychiatric lupus.

In this episode, done in collaboration with Neurology Advisor, neurologist Michael Kornberg, MD, and rheumatologist Laura C. Cappelli, MD, discuss the management of patients with rheumatologic conditions with neurologic manifestations, including defining the term "neurorheumatology," encouraging better collaboration between the 2 specialties, and improving access to care for this patient population.

The importance of patient perspectives, ie, the behaviors, concerns, and experiences of patients with rheumatic conditions, and patient-reported outcomes, were highlighted through several studies presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2021.

In this episode, Shilpa Venkatachalam, PhD, MPH, and Betty Hsiao, MD, discuss research carried out by their respective teams emphasizing the role of the patient voice in rheumatology research and clinical practice.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence held in November 2021 included several important abstracts and sessions in gout research.

In this episode, Ada Kumar, MD, of Horizon Therapeutics, and Suneet Grewal, MD, of East Bay Rheumatology Medical Group, provide an overview of the compelling news and research in gout, as presented at the ACR annual meeting.

There were several interesting research papers, posters, abstracts, and presentations on the diagnosis and treatment of lupus at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2021, including the Great Debate that was about the use of voclosporin vs belimumab as add-on therapy in lupus nephritis.

Karen Costenbader, MD, provides a comprehensive roundup of all the exciting and compelling news and research in lupus, as presented at ACR annual meeting.

Uveitis has been recognized as the most common extra-articular manifestation and potentially sight-threatening complication of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The most common form of JIA-associated uveitis (JIA-U) is chronic anterior uveitis, which is initially asymptomatic but may lead to visual disability. JIA-U can extend into adulthood and have significant ocular morbidity as well.

In this episode of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2021 series, Mara Becker, MD, discusses the management of JIA-associated uveitis in adults, including collaboration with ophthalmologists, transition from pediatric rheumatology care, screening frequency, and treatment options.

There were some exciting and clinically meaningful research in scleroderma/systemic sclerosis presented by experts at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2021.

Tracy Frech, MD, provides a comprehensive overview of the studies presented at the ACR meeting this year, by categorizing them into 5 categories: practice pearls, treatment updates, pediatrics, outcome measures, and COVID-19-related research.

Health care disparities in rheumatology have been shown to have a significantly negative effect on quality of life and patient outcomes. There are several factors that drive health inequities in the US, including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomics, such as education, health care access, and income.

In the first episode of the ACR Convergence 2021 series, we speak with rheumatologist Iris Y. Navarro-Millán, MD, who provides a deeper insight into understanding social determinants of health as drivers of health disparities in rheumatology and urges researchers and clinicians to look beyond just race and ethnicity when addressing these disparities.

Stay tuned for season 2 of the Rheum Advisor on Air podcast!