Guest edited by Drs. Jonathan Kay and Sergio Schwartzman, this issue of Rheumatic Disease Clinics will cover Controversies in Rheumatology. This issue is one of four selected each year by our series Consulting Editor, Dr. Michael Weisman of Cedars-Sinai. Articles explore several questions, including, but not limited to: Is triple therapy or methotrexate plus a biologic the initial treatment of choice for RA patients; Is hypo or hyper-uricemia a risk requiring treatment for cardiac morbidity and mortality; Are there benefits and risks to biosimilars from a patient perspective; Should platelet-rich plasma be used to treat osteoarthritis; Is there a role for stem cell therapy to treat cartilage defects in osteoarthritis; Should any rheumatology patient, today, be treated with bone marrow ablation and stem cell transplantation; Is there effective prevention, prophylaxis, or treatment for CPPD arthritis; Is fibromyalgia a psychiatric disease or a pain syndrome; Should cyclophosphamide still be used to treat ANCA-associated vasculitis; Does methotrexate have a place in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis; Should hydroxychloroquine dosing be limited because of potential ocular toxicity; and Should generalized immunosuppression or targeted organ treatment be the best principle for overall management of SLE.

Translational Orthopedics: Designing and Conducting Translational Research covers the principles of evidence-based medicine and applies these principles to the design of translational investigations. The reader will come to fully understand important concepts including case-control study, prospective cohort study, randomized trial, and reliability study. Medical researchers will benefit from greater confidence in their ability to initiate and execute their own investigations, avoid common pitfalls in translational orthopedics, and know what is needed in collaboration. Further, this title is an indispensable tool in grant writing and funding efforts. The practical, straightforward approach helps the aspiring investigator navigate challenging considerations in study design and implementation. The book provides valuable discussions of the critical appraisal of published studies in translational orthopedics, allowing the reader to learn how to evaluate the quality of such studies with respect to measuring outcomes and to make effective use of all types of evidence in patient care. In short, this practical guidebook will be of interest to every Medical Researcher or Orthopedist who has ever had a good clinical idea but not the knowledge of how to test it. - Focuses on the principles of evidence-based medicine and applies these principles to the design of translational investigations within orthopedics - Provides a practical, straightforward approach that helps investigators navigate challenging considerations in study design and implementation - Details discussions of the critical appraisal of published studies in translational orthopedics, supporting evaluation with respect to measuring outcomes and making effective use of all types of evidence in patient care

In our rapidly aging society, tendon and ligament injuries pose a tremendous socioeconomic burden with a great impact on mobility and patient quality of life. Understanding tendon/ligament development and maturation, pathogenesis, wound healing, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine approaches will be crucial. In this collection, we aim to showcase tendon and ligament research that spans the gamut of basic science to pre-clinical translation. These topics include but are not limited to tendon/ligament development and maturation, the pathogenesis of tendon and ligament injury, isolation and modification of stem cells and their products for regenerative medicine, identification and delivery of bioactive tenogenic/ligamentogenic molecules, development and characterization of bioactive and/or mechanically robust biomaterials in silico, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo for tissue engineering, as well as the use of novel multidisciplinary methodologies and technologies including systems biology and synthetic biology approaches for studying tendons and ligaments as well as enhancing their repair and regeneration. With this collection, we aim to expose readers to inter- and multi-disciplinary biological and bioengineering techniques and research, which will stimulate broader discussion and advance our understanding to improve tendon/ligament repair and regeneration.