Physicians specialized in scleroderma and lupus among other related conditions are sharing their findings at the 74th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) at Atlanta. The physicians are affiliated with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Their findings are set to change the future of clinical care.

The discussions were related to strategies for the orthopedic patients avoid falls. They also discussed on how to improve life for children suffering from lupus. The researchers also tried to understand the joint pain caused by a medicine commonly used to treat breast cancer. Another aspect under discussion was lupus-related kidney disease. It was an international summit geared towards identifying antiphospholipid syndrome and answer questions pertaining to the same.

"With our multidisciplinary team providing comprehensive medical care and patient education in the Mary Kirkland Center for Lupus Care at Hospital for Special Surgery, the patient is the number one focus," said the Center's co-director Doruk Erkan, M.D., co-author of a poster which is to be presented at the venue. "We are treating the patient as a whole, not just the disease."

Three faculty members of the Hospital for Special Surgery will be honored at the meeting. "It is remarkable that three rheumatologists from one institution would be honored by being named Masters," said Mary K. Crow, M.D., physician-in-chief and chair of the HSS Division of Rheumatology, who is also a past president of the ACR. "Each of these Special Surgery experts has significantly contributed to the field of rheumatology."