The unique challenges of rheumatology diagnoses will be front and center during the two Thieves Market sessions at ACR Convergence. In each session, four presenters will share details of uncommon and surprising cases, illustrated with images depicting clinical presentations, pathology, and radiological aspects of the individual manifestations.
“We all take care of ‘zebras’ at some time, and we’re always faced with unforeseen surprises,” said Sivia Lapidus, MD, Co-Coordinator of the Pediatric Thieves Market. “These cases potentially feature mimickers of common diseases, unusual genetic disorders, or overlay autoimmune diseases/autoinflammatory diseases with primary immune deficiencies, so they are a great way of broadening your abilities to make differential diagnoses, and a critical way to learn how to think through unusual scenarios that sometimes drive the treatment of more common diseases.”
Adult Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases! will take place from 8:30–9:30 a.m. on Monday, October 27, in Room W196A-C of McCormick Place. Pediatric Thieves Market: Show Me Your Best Cases! will take place from 2:30–3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, in Room W471B.
“Rheumatology trainees from all around the country and internationally submit unique and interesting cases,” explained Angelo Gaffo, MD, FACP, Co-Coordinator for the Adult Thieves Market. “It’s the very unusual case that you come across in your practice and you want to share with your colleagues so we can all learn from it. Because of the global nature of ACR Convergence, this goes beyond what most of us normally see in our daily practices.”
Out of the dozens of cases submitted, four adult and four pediatric cases are selected for oral presentation. Several more are chosen for poster presentations.
“An optimal case for this kind of session is something with a hidden surprise, like a mimicker of a common disease, a genetic defect that is not commonly known, an overlay between multiple types of diseases that won’t be expected,” said Dr. Lapidus, Assistant Professor at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Pediatric Rheumatologist at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, Hackensack Meridian Health, and Hearst Foundation Physician Scientist and Faculty at the Center for Discovery and Innovation. “Sometimes they will have infectious masqueraders that we should be aware of as rheumatologists.”
Having dedicated sessions to discuss adult and pediatric cases acknowledges the nuances of caring for these distinct patient populations.
“Sometimes pediatric cases are more genetically enriched,” Dr. Lapidus said. “Different diseases can affect different age groups. There are also different differential diagnoses based on age.”
Parvovirus arthritis in adults often presents in the hands and wrists, for example, while in children, parvovirus arthritis is seen more often in the hips.
“Children are not little adults,” said Joyce Hui-Yuen, MD, MS, FACR, Co-Coordinator of the Pediatric Thieves Market. “The diseases we see are quite similar but different, and so the rare presentations — these weird twists on the presentations of clinical cases — are different between adult and pediatric cases. It’s a great thing to be able to showcase them both because a learning pearl on the adult side might not be the same as a learning pearl on the pediatric side.”
The featured cases change each year, making each Thieves Market session a one-of-a-kind learning experience.
“No one is trying to trick you, but it’s those interesting twists and turns, those rare presentations or even common diseases that present in unusual ways or cases that are not rheumatology, but they mimic rheumatologic disease. That’s what we’re looking for,” said Dr. Hui-Yuen, Pediatric Rheumatologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health System.
The format of the Thieves Market sessions facilitates more speaker-audience interaction than a traditional lecture. The interactive sessions also incorporate audience response questions that can be answered in real time using a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.
“It’s not only about the final diagnosis,” said Dr. Gaffo, Rheumatology Section Chief at the Birmingham VA Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “It’s about the discussion, it’s about learning how the person who’s presenting the case arrives at the correct diagnosis. It’s a process.”
While the Thieves Market sessions spotlight early career rheumatologists at the podium, the information being shared is valuable for clinicians and researchers at all career stages.
“I am sure that people who attend this session will be very surprised by what they will see despite the fact that they could be very experienced clinicians already,” Dr. Gaffo said. “Everyone will leave having learned multiple things from a case that they haven’t encountered before.”
All registered participants of ACR Convergence will receive on-demand access to scientific sessions, including recorded Thieves Market presentations, after the meeting through October 31, 2026.
Don’t Miss a Session
If you weren’t able to make it to a live session during ACR Convergence 2025 — or you want to revisit a session from the annual meeting — make plans to watch the replay. All registered participants receive on-demand access to scientific sessions after the meeting through October 31, 2026.