ACR on Air American College of Rheumatology

By now, you likely have heard about CAR-T Cell therapy, but what exactly is it? Today, we dive headlong into this topic with Dr. Max Konig. We cover how this therapy works, how CAR-T Cells are made and administered to patients. We discuss the risks associated with this type of therapy, the side effects and their management. Lastly, we’ll discuss the rheumatic diseases amenable to CAR-T therapy, those that are not, the costs and ethics involved and what the future may hold for it in rheumatology. Enjoy! 

Internationally renowned Lyme Disease clinician and researcher, Dr. Allen Steere, joins us for a discussion on Lyme Arthritis. Dr. Steere explains the history of this disease, the historical identification of the borrelia spirochete which causes it, how Lyme Arthritis manifests and presents (including why severity can be vary greatly in patients) and explore the current challenges in its diagnosis. We also cover treatment and antibiotic therapies for the disease, what post-treatment syndromes are, how to treat them and how understanding Lyme Arthritis has improved our knowledge of other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.  

Expert researcher and clinician, Dr. Elana Bernstein, is our guest this week as we dive into lung disease brought on by Systemic Sclerosis (SS). We discuss symptoms, diagnosis, how systemic sclerosis affects the lungs, including pulmonary hypertension and interstitial lung disease. Dr. Bernstein, who has dedicated her career to improving patient outcomes in systemic sclerosis, explains her approach to screening for lung disease, plus the latest research and questions that need to be answered. 

This week, Dr. Hausmann takes on Ultrasound in Rheumatology, exploring its use in the field and diagnosing diseases such as Inflammatory Arthritis, Crystaline Arthropathy and Vasculitis. Dr. Minna Kohler, Founder and Director of the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, joins us as our guest. Dr. Kohler discusses how Ultrasound can help therapeutically, what it's like working in an MSK Ultrasound clinic, plus how one can become trained in the use of Ultrasound, what the patient experience is like, the controversies surrounding the use of Ultrasound in rheumatology and what the future holds for it in our field. 

Join us this week as Jon meets with a truly influential woman in the medical field, Dr. Elizabeth Ang, being one of the first pediatric rheumatologists in the Southeast Asian region to receive pediatric rheumatology training and is the Co-Convenor of the Paediatric Rheumatology Special Interest Group of APLAR (Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology). Beyond this, and so that children with rheumatic disease in the region have the opportunity to be diagnosed and treated, Dr. Ang trains local doctors and shares her knowledge and experience with them in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar. In this episode she and Dr. Hausmann discuss Singapore’s healthcare system, access to biologics, cultural barriers to treatment and much, much more. 

Bone health may not be first on the mind when discussing rheumatology, however, Dr. Marcy Bolster believes it plays a vital role in caring for ‘the whole patient’. As such, Dr. Bolster’s innovative contributions to the field of Osteoporosis cannot be overstated. She joins us today to discuss the role of the rheumatologist in helping to prevent or treat Osteoporosis, how often it’s under-recognized, plus the services she created to help identify, diagnose and treat the condition among patients.