Letter from the Doctor
Pediatric Rheumatology Takes Hold in Alabama
By Randy Q. Cron, MD, PhD
Thanks to the efforts of the Arthritis Foundation (AF), Alabama chapter, in helping to fund an endowed chair in Pediatric Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Alabama has the beginnings of a Pediatric Rheumatology program that is here to stay. The combined efforts of the AF and local community, the UAB Department of Pediatrics and its chair (Dr. Sergio Stagno), the Children’s Hospital of Alabama, the adult Rheumatology division at UAB (headed by Dr. Robert Carter), and the Dean of the UAB School of Medicine (Dr. Robert Rich) helped to create an environment for the success of Pediatric Rheumatology at UAB and Children’s. Starting in August 2007, Drs. Randy Cron and Tim Beukelman joined the faculty at UAB and were appointed to the staff at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama to set up their research programs and to join Dr. Prescott Atkinson, Pediatric Immunology, to diagnose and care for children with rheumatic diseases in the state of Alabama and surrounds.
The beautiful brand new clinic at Children’s Park Place welcomed its first Pediatric Rheumatology patient on Sept 11, 2007, and more than 400 patient visits by Drs. Beukelman and Cron have taken place since its opening. Diagnoses of children seen in the clinic have varied from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) to systemic lupus erythematosus to juvenile dermatomyositis to scleroderma to a variety of forms of vasculitis. The new 8-bed infusion center adjacent to the clinic opened in early 2008, and there have already been countless numbers of intravenous infusions for our children with rheumatic diseases. In addition, since their arrival, Drs. Cron and Beukelman, along with Dr. Atkinson, have provided their unique rheumatology medical expertise as they have been consulted on over 65 children admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Alabama. In addition to the clinicians in the new Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, there 2 full time nurses (one nurse practitioner), as well as dedicated nurses for the infusion center, a full time medical social worker, an office manager and assistant, and a team of very capable clinic staff who help ensure the quality and timeliness of care during clinic visits for patients and their families.
The Division of Pediatric Rheumatology interfaces with the vast majority of the clinical services at Children’s Hospital of Alabama, including Pediatric Nephrology, who provides synergistic care for many of the children with rheumatic disorders who have kidney disease as part of their illness. Radiology has also been invaluable in helping to diagnose temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthritis by MRI in children with JIA, and the Oromaxillofacial Surgery service has performed the much needed corticosteroid injections of the involved TMJs. Similarly, Orthopedic Surgery has performed intra-articular corticosteroid joint injections of children with JIA for some of the deeper joints in the body. Likewise, Drs. Cron and Beukelman perform a variety of corticosteroid joint injections for the more accessible joints, both in the dedicated procedure room in clinic and in partnership with the Critical Care physicians at the hospital when deeper sedation is required. The early and aggressive use of newer highly effective therapies has been both gratifying for the patients and their families, as well as for the clinicians and their staff, as the rheumatic diseases in children in Alabama are coming under better control.
Current and future objectives for the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology include the following: 1) recruitment of additional pediatric rheumatologists to the division, 2) assisting Dr. Tom Vetter (Anesthesiology) in beginning a program for the diagnosis and treatment of children with amplified musculoskeletal pain, and 3) beginning a fellowship/training program for Pediatric Rheumatology at UAB. The AF, Alabama chapter, remains dedicated to raising necessary and sufficient funds to support clinical fellows’ salaries for a future Pediatric Rheumatology training program at UAB/Children’s. These UAB trained fellows will help form the nidus for future pediatric rheumatologists throughout Alabama and the southeastern United States so that no child with a rheumatic disease in Alabama and the neighboring states will have to go for an extended period of time without proper diagnosis and treatment. The new Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at Children’s Hospital of Alabama is off to a fabulous beginning, and it should continue to blossom and expand with the continued support of the AF and the community. We truly appreciate everyone’s involvement in making a Division of Pediatric Rheumatology a reality at UAB/Children’s Hospital of Alabama.
We thank you, and we look forward to your continued support and our future growth.
Sincerely yours,
Randy Q. Cron, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UAB Pediatrics
Director of Pediatric Rheumatology, Children’s Hospital of Alabama
Arthritis Foundation, Alabama Chapter Endowed Chair in Pediatric Rheumatology
