History of Rheumatology

Timeline

(from M. Zeide. Foreward. Clinical Innovation in Rheumatology; B Luedders et al. Chapter 1 RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. Clinical Innovation in Rheumatology)

1927: LANDE REPORTED the use of aurothioglucose, by injection, in patients with a variety of rheumatic diseases, on the misconception that these conditions were caused by infectious agents.

1928: Forestier reported the use of aurothoglucose (gold) compound in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

1940: American physicians Dr. Bernard Comroe and Dr. Joseph Lee Hollander coin the term rheumatologist. 

1948: Dr. Charles A. Ragan Jr. rediscovers the rheumatoid factor. 

1950: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Dr. Edward C. Kendall and Dr. Tadeusz Reichstein for the discovery of adrenocorticotropic hormone anti-inflammatory effects in rheumatoid arthritis.  [2]

1950's: Sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine were approved for the treatment of RA in the 1950s

1958: Chloroquine used for rheumatoid arthritis. 

1968: Dr. Lee Schlosstein and colleagues note the association between the HLA-B27 antigen and ankylosing spondylitis. 

1970: Use of methotrexate for dermatomyositis. Subsequently used in rheumatoid arthritis. 

1971: The American Board of Internal Medicine approves rheumatology board certification. 

1970s: Dr. John Vane and colleagues demonstrate the blocking of prostaglandin E synthesis by aspirin, paving the way for the development of other anti-inflammatory agents. 

1974: The first clinical computed tomography scans are introduced. 

1980s: Introduction of magnetic resonance imaging into the medical field. 

1985: Founding of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). 

1998: FDA approval of etanercept, a tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor and the first synthetic biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic medication (DMARD) to be used in rheumatology.