Dr. Ruth Ann Vleugels offers several pearls for effectively managing connective tissue disease based on her presentation at Winter Clinical Dermatology Conference 2021.
Ruth Ann Vleugels, MD, MPH, shared several clinical pearls for treating patients with connective tissue disease in her talk, “5 Key Things You Need to Know When Managing Connective Tissue Disease,” at the Winter Clinical Dermatology Conference 2021.
Among these pearls, Dr. Vleugels highlights facial features that distinguish lupus from dermatomyositis, which she says are often confused; using hydroxychloroquine in patients at higher risk for systemic involvement in lupus; and increasing folic acid to help reduce gastrointestinal upset with oral methotrexate.
Dr. Vleugels also discusses the therapeutic ladder for cutaneous dermatomyositis, including intravenous immunoglobulin, methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil, and of- label JAK inhibition.
Dr. Vleugels is Director, Autoimmune Skin Disease Program; Program Director, Dermatology-Rheumatology Fellowship; Vice-Chair, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Dermatology; and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School.