An 82-year-old man presented with longstanding bilateral hip pain but no history of trauma. (Why might you have expected him to arrive requiring care many years earlier?)

The past decade has seen remarkable advances in our understanding of rheumatoid arthritis. However, challenges remain. Resolving them offers hope for even greater success in the future.

Is it a form of lupus, myositis, or a drug reaction? Check your knowledge of skin eruptions and the associated rheumatologic conditions in this brief photo essay.

A 39-year-old woman, in her eighth week of pregnancy, experienced aching pain that worsened with activity. Weakness and fatigue set in three days later in her thigh and proximal arm muscle. Then a mildly pruritic rash developed across the forehead, nose, and forearms.

New in the nonspecialty journals: A new option for patients with autoimmune disease and HCV infection. The value of combined therapy for osteoporosis. Prognosis predictors for chronic pain, a new opioid adverse effect, and more ...

They may be supported by guidelines and commonly used in practice, but joint injections with glucocorticoids for acute gout are not backed by any randomized controlled clinical trials, according to a new Cochrane report. However, the report backs away from saying they should not be used.

A small, randomized clinical trial from Germany suggests that two weeks of high-dose oral prednisone produces a clinically relevant response in patients with active ankylyosing spondylitis (AS) refractory to NSAIDs.

New in the non-rheumatology journals, much about pain: A review based on 2012 fibromyalgia guidelines from Canada, a viewpoint on safe use of opioids, the evidence to back spinal pain interventions. Also: fast-track arthroplasty, and more newfound genes.

In a comprehensive review of clinical trials, combination therapies with biologics offered better chances of long-term remission than monotherapy with a DMARD.

New in the non-rheumatology journals: Adverse effects of TNF-α inhibitors, a comment on meniscectomy vs. physical therapy, and the latest on adolescent scoliosis.

Two major examples of "crowdsourcing" genetic explanations for rheumatic diseases: a competition to explain the genetics of anti-TNF response in rheumatoid arthritis, and 14 newfound genes for juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

A small pilot trial from the Karolinska Institute finds positive results for rituximab in lupus nephritis patients for whom conventional treatments have failed.

Pain, function and quality of life scores from 11% of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis rate the condition as “worse than death,” according to French researchers, with extreme pain and discomfort being a key determinant.

New in the major nonspecialist journals: Bevra Hahn MD tells how she uses belimumab in lupus, a case report of an adverse effect of rituximab, a new proposal for identifying osteoporosis.

An 82-year-old man presented with longstanding bilateral hip pain but no history of trauma. (Why might you have expected him to arrive requiring care many years earlier?)

A 39-year-old woman, in her eighth week of pregnancy, experienced aching pain that worsened with activity. Weakness and fatigue set in three days later in her thigh and proximal arm muscle. Then a mildly pruritic rash developed across the forehead, nose, and forearms.

An obese woman in her thirties with a history of fibromyalgia syndrome, depression, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and diabetes presents with midline back pain that has gradually worsened over the past week.

A 56-year-old woman presents with a history of intermittent shoulder pain for the past six months. Early signs point to bursitis, but the plot thickens: She also has sarcoidosis and lymphoma. How would you proceed?

A 44-year-old nonsmoking immigrant from Taiwan sought help from a dermatologist for this longstanding skin eruption, lately complicated by weight loss and fatigue.