Pediatric Rheumatology
Preface
Andreas Reiff, MD Editor
Dear Reader, Dear Colleagues, It is a privilege and gives me great pleasure to present you the latest edition of Pediatric Rheumatology for the Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America series. I am not sure that you are aware, but this little green book has a wide-reaching audience and is used as reference guide by many health care providers worldwide. Since the publication of the last edition in 2007, our field is moving forward at an exhilarating pace and it is indeed an exciting time to practice and be involved with pediatric rheumatology. The concerted efforts of pediatric rheumatologists worldwide have resulted in unprecedented knowledge about new diseases, long-term outcomes, and new insights into treatment modalities. With the introduction of new data on the long-term use of biologic therapies, the once most therapeutically challenging diseases are now much better manageable and long-term outcomes for our patients seem to improve. In view of that, we have dedicated an article in this issue to outcomes research in pediatric rheumatology. Unlike the previous versions, you will find that this new edition has three major innovations. First, it presents the reader with up-to-date information on the most relevant pediatric rheumatologic conditions, focusing on the science and new therapeutic accomplishments emerging over the past 5 years. You will find information about new biomarkers in SLE, newly discovered autoantibodies in dermatomyositis, new periodic fever syndromes, and new biologic treatment options in juvenile arthritis. Second, we tried to dedicate the authorships of this edition to the future generation of pediatric rheumatologists. These will be our successors and the thought-leaders of tomorrow. For most articles, you will find junior faculty as lead authors assigned to senior and well-established authors in the field. We felt that this will allow the young generation to gain experience in comprehensively summarizing new information and establish themselves in the field of pediatric rheumatology. Lastly, I have asked some of my colleagues in gastroenterology to contribute an article about the latest developments in the pathogenesis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Since we frequently deal with gastroenterologic symptoms in our patients, I felt it might be helpful to take a look over the fence and understand the perspective of our gastroenterology colleagues in treating these diseases.
Rheum Dis Clin N Am 39 (2013) xvii–xviii http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rdc.2013.07.001 0889-857X/13/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.
rheumatic.theclinics.com
xviii
Preface
We understand that we may not have been able to cover the entire spectrum of all the innovations that are occurring in the field of pediatric rheumatology, but we hope that this issue will serve you as a valuable tool to learn new information and your patients to receive better care and a better chance to overcome their challenging chronic diseases. It was a privilege for me to serve as guest editor for this issue and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of my national and international colleagues for their outstanding contributions. Special thanks to Pamela Hetherington at Elsevier for her dedication and patience in bringing this effort to fruition and to my wife, Diann, for allowing me the time away from home to finish this book. Andreas Reiff, MD Children’s Hospital Los Angeles USC Keck School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
Preface
Andreas Reiff, MD Editor
Dear Reader, Dear Colleagues, It is a privilege and gives me great pleasure to present you the latest edition of Pediatric Rheumatology for the Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America series. I am not sure that you are aware, but this little green book has a wide-reaching audience and is used as reference guide by many health care providers worldwide. Since the publication of the last edition in 2007, our field is moving forward at an exhilarating pace and it is indeed an exciting time to practice and be involved with pediatric rheumatology. The concerted efforts of pediatric rheumatologists worldwide have resulted in unprecedented knowledge about new diseases, long-term outcomes, and new insights into treatment modalities. With the introduction of new data on the long-term use of biologic therapies, the once most therapeutically challenging diseases are now much better manageable and long-term outcomes for our patients seem to improve. In view of that, we have dedicated an article in this issue to outcomes research in pediatric rheumatology. Unlike the previous versions, you will find that this new edition has three major innovations. First, it presents the reader with up-to-date information on the most relevant pediatric rheumatologic conditions, focusing on the science and new therapeutic accomplishments emerging over the past 5 years. You will find information about new biomarkers in SLE, newly discovered autoantibodies in dermatomyositis, new periodic fever syndromes, and new biologic treatment options in juvenile arthritis. Second, we tried to dedicate the authorships of this edition to the future generation of pediatric rheumatologists. These will be our successors and the thought-leaders of tomorrow. For most articles, you will find junior faculty as lead authors assigned to senior and well-established authors in the field. We felt that this will allow the young generation to gain experience in comprehensively summarizing new information and establish themselves in the field of pediatric rheumatology. Lastly, I have asked some of my colleagues in gastroenterology to contribute an article about the latest developments in the pathogenesis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Since we frequently deal with gastroenterologic symptoms in our patients, I felt it might be helpful to take a look over the fence and understand the perspective of our gastroenterology colleagues in treating these diseases.
Rheum Dis Clin N Am 39 (2013) xvii–xviii http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rdc.2013.07.001 0889-857X/13/$ – see front matter Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.
rheumatic.theclinics.com
xviii
Preface
We understand that we may not have been able to cover the entire spectrum of all the innovations that are occurring in the field of pediatric rheumatology, but we hope that this issue will serve you as a valuable tool to learn new information and your patients to receive better care and a better chance to overcome their challenging chronic diseases. It was a privilege for me to serve as guest editor for this issue and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of my national and international colleagues for their outstanding contributions. Special thanks to Pamela Hetherington at Elsevier for her dedication and patience in bringing this effort to fruition and to my wife, Diann, for allowing me the time away from home to finish this book. Andreas Reiff, MD Children’s Hospital Los Angeles USC Keck School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
