Thieves Market Sessions Will Challenge Attendees with Rare and Puzzling Cases

The highly anticipated Thieves Market will return to ACR Convergence 2024, with presentations for adult and pediatric rheumatology.

“These are sessions that not only highlight our rheumatology fellows, but also our other trainees, such as our residents and medical students,” said Curry Koening, MD, MS, Associate Professor, University of Texas Dell Medical School. “It allows the learners to bring interesting cases to teach us about rare diseases, more common diseases that present in an unusual way, or even cases that aren’t rheumatological at all but mimic a rheumatologic disease.”

Dr. Koening, alongside Rumey Ishizawar, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will moderate the session Adult Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases! on Monday, Nov. 18, from 1–2 p.m. ET in Ballroom C at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Featured speakers will include: Shira Rosoph, MD, Norwalk Hospital; Pranathi Narayanareddy, MD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Juliana Kim, MD,  University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; and Berk Degirmenci, MD, Boston University Medical Center.

Pediatric Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases! takes place on Sunday, Nov. 17, from 3:30–4:30 p.m. ET in Room 202AB, and will be led by Hanna Kim, MD, MS, Assistant Clinical Investigator and Head of the Juvenile Myositis Pathogenesis and Therapeutics Unit, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Sivia Lapidus, MD, Assistant Professor, Hackensack University Medical Center. Featured speakers will include: Jessica Nguyen, MD, Baylor College of Medicine; Minal Aundhia, MD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; Lauren Maloney, MD, University of Colorado Children’s Hospital; and Maleewan Kitcharoensakkul, MD, Washington University, B-JH/SLCH Consortium.

Both sessions will be available on demand within 48 hours for registered ACR Convergence 2024 participants.

These interactive sessions provide “little pearls or clues” in the cases that can highlight unusual diagnoses or even side effects, Dr. Lapidus said.

“Sometimes it’s an infectious masquerade or another masquerade of a common rheumatic disease that you wouldn’t expect,” Dr. Lapidus continued. “But it has to have a twist. It has to have an element that’s kind of surprising to make it to this level.”

This year, there were more than 200 abstracts submitted for the Adult Thieves Market session, a record, Dr. Ishizawar noted. However, while anyone can submit their cases for consideration, only a handful are selected.

“We have four exciting oral presentations that will be unveiled at the Adult Thieves Market. I think each case brings a unique educational perspective to attendees,” Dr. Ishizawar said.

Clinicians often encounter patients with symptoms that could fit many different diagnoses or lead them along different paths. These sessions allow audience members to think through particular cases, learn about things they haven’t seen before, and be better prepared for patients they may see in the future.

“Sometimes in rheumatology and pediatric rheumatology, we face such perplexing clinical scenarios that inspire us to pursue our careers and to learn about diseases,” Dr. Lapidus said. “These are truly the most exotic, innovative, inspiring cases that go through quite a selection process to be chosen.”

Not only do the trainees gain experience presenting in front of a larger crowd and learning how to bring out important elements from a case, but the sessions also benefit attendees.

“I hope that people will walk away learning more about some of the rare diseases that we see, or things that may not necessarily fit into rheumatology the way we may be used to thinking about it. Also, I hope folks will learn about different types of techniques or testing or imaging that may help us better differentiate how best to manage a patient,” Dr. Kim said.

Presenters were asked to put top-ranking presentations in poster form. Dr. Koening encouraged all ACR Convergence attendees to attend the Thieves Market Poster sessions to experience those cases.

• Adult Thieves Market Poster Session I, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Nov. 16, Hall C
• Pediatric Thieves Market Poster Session, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Nov. 16, Hall C
• Adult Thieves Market Poster Session II, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Nov. 17, Hall C
• Adult Thieves Market Poster Session III, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Nov. 18, Hall C