In the Oscar S. Gluck, MD, Memorial Lecture, Joel Block, MD, described a biomechanistic and loading model of idiopathic osteoarthritis (OA). The conventional model presumes that all OA proceeds from similar processes. Therapeutic strategies involve controlling early inflammation and stabilizing joint structures. That these strategies have been uniformly unsuccessful suggests other factors are at work.

In the first of three Stats Bootcamp sessions at ACR Convergence, Carolina Alvarez, MS, reviewed how to calculate key measurements in binary and dichotomous testing comparisons. She also analyzed the factors that drive sample size and power considerations in testing.

Claire Owen, MBBS (Hons), PhD, FRACP, CCPU, explained advances in imaging modalities for diagnosing and monitoring polymyalgia rheumatica, and Christian Dejaco, MD, PhD, MBA, discussed new steroid-sparing agents for the treatment of this chronic inflammatory disease.