Search

In the National database (NDB) of the German regional collaborative arthritis centres, annual data on the rheumatological care of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases have been collected since 1993. This first annual report presents current cross-sectional data on medication and patient-reported outcomes gathered in 2022., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD) include various diseases with sometimes rather different symptoms, some of which are locally confined and others show systemic features. Autoimmune phenomena, such as those occurring in Sjögren's syndrome, often cause symptoms such as xerostomia and xerophthalmia in association with inflammation of the salivary glands. The pathogenesis of these diseases is only partly clarified. This is similar to allergic diseases, which are otherwise clearly different with respect to the symptoms and pathomechanisms but swelling of the salivary glands can also rarely occur here. As this is a possible differential diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome or also IgG4-associated diseases, and such a case was recently described, a literature search was carried out in PubMed, the results of which are presented here and summarized in this article in a brief overview., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

The national database (NDB) of the German regional collaborative rheumatology centers was switched to the RheMIT documentation software last year. Rheumatology centers that already use RheMIT for care contracts or other research projects can therefore use the software to also participate in the NDB. Experiences from a hospital, a medical care center and a specialist practice show how the changeover to RheMIT from an existing documentation system or a new participation in the NDB with RheMIT can be implemented. The NDB team at the German Rheumatism Research Center in Berlin (DRFZ) welcomes new participating rheumatology centers., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

New treatment strategies and treatment possibilities as well as undertreatment due to the lack of medical specialists especially in rheumatology, necessitate a qualified further training of rheumatological assistant personnel. The increasing independent work of medical and rheumatological assistants expected by physicians with respect to patient management and practice organization, necessitates an intensive cooperation between the two professional groups. The aim is to guarantee the competent treatment of chronically ill patients with rheumatism. Finally, this concept offers the chance of additional professional qualifications for the rheumatological assistant profession and support for rheumatologists in the daily routine. This particularly applies to the engagement at several levels supported by the results of various studies, which indicate tasks that can be delegated to rheumatological assistants and confirm an improvement in the quality of patient care.

Symptomatic manubriosternal arthritis, occasionally encountered with spondyloarthropathies, may not be adequately controlled by systemic therapy. Local corticosteroid injections make a potential contribution to symptomatic management. Three patients with acute inflammation of the joint as documented by MRI and fluoroscopy-guided therapy are presented. Topical treatment with triamcinolone acetonide (40 mg) was well tolerated and induced rapid and complete relief of pain for between 3 weeks and 3 months. In spite of the clinical improvement, the signs of inflammation in MRI did not decrease. Local steroid application seems to be an underused therapeutic modality in managing rheumatic involvement of the anterior chest wall.