A Rheumatologists’ Pocket Book: Current Evidence in Diagnosis and Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Dear Colleagues,

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory joint and systemic disease affecting about 0.5–1% of the global population. Many steps have been taken during the last decades in the therapeutic strategy against RA from 1949 when glucocorticoids were first employed in medicine by Philip S. Hench to treat a patient affected by RA. The advent and development of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) allowed to control and even stop the disease’s progression, reducing the disability burden of RA. Moreover, new serological and histopathological markers are available together with advanced imaging tools, leading to an earlier and more accurate RA diagnosis and providing prognostic information. Finally, the increasing understanding of RA underneath pathogenetic pathways is driving a more comprehensive approach to the disease’s articular and systemic manifestations as well as the production of new target therapies, also with the support of Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs). The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect the current evidence in RA diagnosis and management and to provide a summary that could help rheumatologists and other health professionals in dealing with this pathology. With this objective in mind, we are considering for publication of original research articles and reviews from authors involved in RA patients’ care and study.

Dr. Arianna Damiani
Dr. Silvia Bellando Randone
Guest Editors

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• rheumatoid arthritis
• serological markers
• synovial biopsy
• auto-antibodies
• inflammatory cytokines
• musculoskeletal ultrasound
• magnetic resonance