Please enjoy this post from the Clinical Correlations archives first posted March 19, 2009
Aditya Mattoo MD
Faculty Peer Reviewed
For our first post, I wanted to address the age old belief that changes in the weather can affect arthritis pain. Since the time of Hippocrates, who wrote about the effects of hot and cold winds on people’s health, this topic has been debated. Even Osler suggested in 1892 that arthritis sufferers of wealth vacation…
Diseases 2.0 – Bringing you the latest updates on disease pathophysiology and treatment
Rachana Jani MD
Faculty peer reviewed
Rheumatoid arthritis is a well-recognized but enigmatic disease afflicting the lives of thousands of individuals each year. The mysterious nature of RA has become increasingly uncovered as research has mapped various pathways of cytokine production and interleukin activation. However, in practice, we use clinical criteria to diagnose RA and evaluate the effectiveness of these new therapies.Though soon to…
Eve Wadsworth MD
Faculty Peer Reviewed
Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a condition that resembles several different disorders including osteoarthritis and can be difficult to diagnose. In addition to osteoarthritis, PMR can resemble conditions as diverse as depression, fibromyalgia, myopathic drug reactions, and malignancy. PMR, however, can be associated with dangerous consequences, namely blindness, and is responsive to well-established treatment regimens. As such, familiarity with PMR’s presentation and its unique features is critical so as to avoid serious complications that…
Ishmeal Bradley MD
Faculty Peer Reviewed
Ms. W is a 35 yo woman with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosed 10 years ago. Her only medications are hydroxychloroquine and prednisone for occasional disease flares. She is otherwise healthy. She has no known personal or family history of cardiac disease or stroke, but does smoke ½ pack of cigarettes per day. Currently, she denies any chest pain, shortness of breath, urinary symptoms, lower extremity edema, or menstrual irregularities, but does…
Michael Owen MD
Please also see the clinical vignette presented before Grand Rounds on the 15th of April.
Grand rounds on April 15th was presented by Dr. Joel Kremer, Pfaff Family Professor of Medicine at Albany Medical College and Director of Research at the Center for Rheumatology. Dr. Kremer informed the NYU community about the role of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Kremer began with an overview of fatty…
Welcome to the first installment of Myths and Realities! With each post we hope to tackle some of the longstanding myths often perpetuated by patients and physicians alike. Through literature reviews we will attempt to validate or debunk these beliefs in an evidence-based manner. We hope you enjoy (and learn a little bit)!
Commentary by Aditya Mattoo MD PGY-3
Faculty Peer Reviewed
For our first post, I wanted to address the age old belief that changes in the weather can affect arthritis pain.…
Commentary by Deena Altman MD, PGY-2
Please also see the clinical vignette presented before grand rounds on February 18th.
At medical grand rounds on February 18, 2009, our very own Dr. Pillinger gave a unique overview of the history, pathogenesis, and new theories on an ancient and increasingly common disease, gout.
His talk began with a depiction of gout throughout the ages. Podagra was first described in 2600 BC, with the first urate crystals being recognized in 1961 by…
Commentary by Jon-Emile Kenny MD, PGY- 2
Faculty Peer Reviewed
At morning report, the case of a 55 F with known dermatomyositis (DM), and interstitial lung involvement who had presented to the hospital with increasing dyspnea was presented. The discussion of the case opened with the cardinal manifestations of DM including proximal muscle weakness as diagnosed with EMG, cutaneous manifestations such as the heliotrope rash, the shawl sign, Gottron’s papules, Reynaud’s, and ‘Mechanics Hand’, and the systemic manifestations such as interstitial lung disease.…
Class act is a feature of Clinical Correlations written by NYU 3rd and 4th year medical students. Prior to publication, each commentary is thoroughly reviewed for content by a faculty member.
Commentary by Jillian Borman, MS-4, Reviewed by Svetlana Krasnokutsky, MD, Clinical Instructor, NYU Department of Medicine
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of joint pain in the aging population. The pain of OA, which is generally worsened with joint use and alleviated with rest, is typically described as…
Commentary by Peter Izmirly MD, NYU Division of Rheumatology
A 54 year old male with a past medical history significant for hepatitis C genotype 1a s/p ifn/ribavarin 2003-2004 with HCV Qual negative in 2005 presents with 3 weeks of bilateral wrist pain. The pain is worst with extension. His exam is notable for diffuse tenderness when pressure is applied to his wrists. He has no obvious swelling, erythema, deformity or subcutaneous nodules. The remainder of his musculoskeletal exam in unremarkable. In addition, he has no stigmata…
Commentary by Aditya Matoo MD, PGY-2
This week’s medicine grand rounds was given by Dr. Peter Merkel, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Boston University School of Medicine and Director, Vasculitis Center, Boston University School of Medicine.
Dr. Merkel prefaced his discussion by highlighting the evolving movement among academics to change the name of Wegener’s Granulomatosis to an alternative given recent discoveries that Friedrich Wegener had willingly volunteered and actively participated in the Nazi movement…
Commentary by Nitasha Sarswat MD, PGY-3
This week’s Medicine Grand Rounds speaker was Gerald Weissmann, MD, a familiar face at Bellevue/NYU. He is a professor of rheumatology, the former chairman of the Department of Rheumatology and current director of the Biotechnology Study Center.
Dr. Weissmann began by discussing homeopathic medicine and its roots in the Romantiic reaction against the Enlightenment and how homeopathic treatments today are not rooted in science. He discussed the use of plants such as briony and rhus toxicodendron…
