Three special sessions have been planned employing a format in which faculty will present carefully developed cases and questions that will reinforce key principles in the evaluation and treatment of rheumatic disease.
All Annual Meeting scientific attendees will have complimentary access to corresponding online activities that offer CME credits and MOC points.
The first session, 2018 CARE: MOC Session 1 of 3: Vasculitis, will be held on Sunday, from 12:30 – 2:00 pm. During this session, Sharon A. Chung, MD, will review and discuss clinically relevant questions regarding the diagnosis and management of systemic vasculitis.
Dr. Chung is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of California, San Francisco. She directs the Vasculitis Clinic at the university, serves as a medical consultant for the Vasculitis Foundation, and is a member of the Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium.
“This is an important topic for clinicians, because it can be extremely difficult to diagnose these diseases,” Dr. Chung said. “There have been pivotal clinical trials published recently, and clinicians should be familiar with the results of these trials in order to identify appropriate treatments for their patients.”
Among the key topics Dr. Chung will address are the role of imaging in large vessel vasculitis, the role of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) monitoring in ANCA-associated vasculitides, the role of biologic agents in the treatment of systemic vasculitides, including their complications, and factors that distinguish vasculitis mimickers from the systemic vasculitides.
The second session, 2018 CARE: MOC Session 2 of 3: Lupus & Antiphospholipid Syndrome, will be held on Monday, from 12:30 – 2:00 pm. In this session, Sarah Goglin, MD, an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Rheumatology and Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, will update attendees on the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS).
The SLE portion of Dr. Goglin’s presentation will focus on pregnancy issues, treatment options, and complications of treatment, as well as unusual manifestations of the disease.
“Care for patients with SLE during pregnancy requires an understanding of the differences between signs of a lupus flare and normal physiologic changes of pregnancy, as well as carefully considering risks and benefits of various therapeutic options during pregnancy,” Dr. Goglin said.
With regard to APS, she will update attendees on how to recognize and diagnose different clinical presentations, as well as management considerations for patients with this disease.
“Management of APS is nuanced, and presentation of this disease can often mimic other conditions,” Dr. Goglin said. “Recognition is important in order to be able to institute treatment rapidly, especially in cases of catastrophic APS, where prompt treatment may be lifesaving.”
The final session, 2018 CARE: MOC Session 3 of 3: OA & Gout/Pseudogout, will take place on Tuesday, from 12:30 – 2:00 pm. Allan Gelber, MD, MPH, PhD, a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and Deputy Director for Education and Faculty Development in the Division of Rheumatology, Baltimore, MD, will update attendees on clinical features associated with gout and pseudogout, emphasize available evidence supporting current therapeutic options, and address epidemiologic risk factors related to the development of gout.
“Gout and pseudogout are very common, and yet they continue to challenge and offer learning opportunities and impactful clinical interactions to improve the outcome of the patient,” Dr. Gelber said. “An important current issue, for example, is the comparative safety of the xanthine oxidase inhibitors allopurinol and febuxostat. Recently published reports have suggested a higher risk with febuxostat in relation to cardiovascular disease and even survival.”
Also during this session, Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, will discuss various management options in patients with osteoarthritis and will review factors that contribute to OA pathogenesis and symptoms.
The MOC session faculty and organizers would like to thank the following people for their contributions in writing the questions for each session:
- Vasculitis: Vaneet Sandhu, MD, and Eveline Wu, MD
- Lupus/APS: Megan Clowse, MD, and Nina Ramessar, MD
- Gout/Pseudogout: Amanda Sammut, MD
- Osteoarthritis: Aruni Jayatilleke, MD