29th Annual Rheumatology Symposium, 6/1/18

There were a couple raised eyebrows when the flyer announcing this year’s CME symposium was revealed. It featured a provider administering some eye drops. What did rheumatology have to do with ophthalmology? The symposium planning committee had invited two lecturers to present on the intersection of eye-related conditions and rheumatologic concerns.

James T. Rosenbaum, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology at Oregon Health & Science University and the Legacy Devers Eye Institute, discussed both uveitis and other rheumatic diseases detectable in eye exams in two separate lectures. Julius Birnbaum, MD, Associate Professor in both Rheumatology and Neurology at John’s Hopkins University presented on both Sjogren’s syndrome as well as neuromyelitis opitca-spectrum disease in morning and afternoon sessions, respectively.

The rest of the day’s presentations offered a similar diverse array of answers to unique questions. Linda Cadaret, MD, Clinical Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine, presented both an overview of pulmonary hypertension and discussed the circumstances under which a rheumatologist should identify consults and collaboration with a cardiologist. Bharat Kumar, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor in Immunology, finished the morning with a deep dive on test item development in the context of preparing for certification examinations.

Attendees were treated to a sunny view of downtown Iowa City from the twelfth floor of the Hilton Garden Inn for lunch, one of the highest points on the east side of the Iowa River. (The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital earns the altitude trophy on both the west side of the river and for all Johnson County.)

The afternoon featured the second presentations from Dr. Rosenbaum and Dr. Birnbaum, as well as introduction to inflammasomes from Rebecca Tuetken, MD, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor in Immunology. Brittany Bettendorf, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor in Immunology, then introduced the four Rheumatology fellows who presented what Dr. Bettendorf called a “thieves’ market” of case presentations. Priyanka Iyer, MD, described an IgG-4 related disease; Aneet Kaur, MD, explained how a mysterious swelling revealed to be paraneoplastic inflammatory polyarthritis; Jimmy Varghese, MD, connected a whooshing sound to dural arterivenous fistulas; and Sanjeev Patil, MD, described a patient who presented with more than a decade’s worth of migratory pain.

Congratulations to this year’s symposium organizers on providing nearly three decades of medical education!

Petar S. Lenart, MD, PhD
Molly Burma, ARNP
Rebecca Tuetken, MD, PhD
Scott Vogelgesang, MD