Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a common rheumatic condition that affects around 1-2% of the population and without adequate therapy results in significant disability. Recent advances in the pathogenesis of the rheumatoid arthritis have led to the dramatic development of powerful new therapeutic agents that target specific disease mechanisms. Increasing use of intensive conventional therapy and the advent of more advanced biologic agents has altered our expectations of the drug treatment of the disease. Part of the Oxford Rheumatology Library series, this practical pocketbook summarizes the important recent developments that have been made in the understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis for the wide audience of clinicians who manage patients with this condition. Chapters include concise but comprehensive overviews of underlying disease mechanisms, clinical diagnosis and assessment, the role of laboratory investigations and imaging, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, the role of disease modifying therapy steroids and biologic agents and the role of multidisciplinary care.

1. Epidemiology, genetics and economic burden of rheumatoid arthritis, Matthew Brown and Maarten Boers
2. The pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, Catherine Swales, Paul Wordsworth and Raashid Luqmani
3. Diagnosis and clinical features of rheumatoid arthritis, Raashid Luqmani, Maarten Boers and Theodore Pincus
4. Disease assessment and monitoring patients for follow up, Theodore Pincus and Raashid Luqmani
5. Drug therapy - small molecules, David L Scott and Gabrielle Kingsley
6. Biologic therapy, Peter Taylor
7. Multidisciplinary team management, Sheena Hennell, Zoe Stableford, Jane Flynn and Raashid Luqmani
8. Comorbidity and complications of RA, Nicola Goodson and Raashid Luqmani
9. Surgical management of rheumatoid arthritis: introduction and spinal involvement, Tom Cadoux-Hudson, Hemant Pandit, Ian McNab and Raashid Luqmani
10. Surgical management of rheumatoid arthritis: the upper limb, Ian McNab and Chris Little
11. Surgical approach to the lower limb in rheumatoid arthritis, Hemant Pandit, Bob Sharp and Roger Gundle
12. Future treatments in rheumatoid arthritis, Raashid Luqmani and Paul P Tak