Treatment with epratuzumab produced clinically meaningful and sustained improvements in systemic lupus erythematosus.

CHICAGO — Here’s why achieving meaningful use of electronic health records worked for some hospital departments, but not for others.

(AUDIO) A new paradigm in pain research provides simple ways to identify patients with disorders like arthritis or lupus who won't respond to standard treatments. Pain expert Daniel Clauw MD gives the details in this podcast.

Drawn from an invited session at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting, these publications have been judged the best clinical reports in rheumatology from the past year.

Among the revelations about gout treatment at this year’s meeting: Confusion among physicians about the definition of “control,” misunderstandings among gout patients about their own disease, and new drug options.

Reports about lupus from the American College of Rheumatology meeting include news about biomarkers for non-atherosclerotic comorbidities, good results from epratuzumab and hydroxycloroquine, and good news about lymphoma risk.

A closer look at racial disparities in treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis show nuanced explanations for why African Americans are less willing to undergo drug therapy and surgery. More careful and clearer communication may go a long way toward closing the gap.

The reasons for the association aren't yet clear, but experts are warning that you should consider a fracture a red flag for cardiovascular risk in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Fractures also are associated with an increased mortality risk in general among RA patients.

Refining the ample evidence that rheumatologists and their rheumatoid arthritis patients disagree on the severity of symptoms, new studies reported at ACR2012 point toward better definitions of disease status, and a way to identify patients for whom treatment targets may need to be reconsidered.