Science, Practice, Humanity: according to the Italian College of Rheumatology—CReI, these are the three cornerstones on which to build the rheumatology of the future. The 29th Congress of the College, freshly concluded in Bologna, pointed to three challenges designed to meet patients’ needs and to position rheumatology as a leading force within a healthcare system undergoing deep transformation.
Personalized Medicine and Community-Based Rheumatology
«I believe that both the content presented and the strong feedback from the many rheumatologists in attendance show that the goals we set for ourselves have been achieved»: said Daniela Marotto, president of the Congress and former president of CReI.
«Science, practice, and humanity—the keywords we chose—are framed by our journey, especially in choosing to prioritize a personalized medicine capable of overcoming regional disparities, in a climate of strong collaboration started with other disciplines, in the development of unprecedented projects for our country, such as onc Rheumatology, and with the launch of initiatives that put new tools for facing inflammatory diseases into the hands of rheumatologists».
Crescenzio Bentivenga, president of the Congress and vice-president of the College, highlights the still marked gap between the center and the periphery and identifies as a priority a patient-centered rheumatology that is close to patients, uniform, and of high quality. Multidisciplinarity remains a central focus, also through partnerships with SIMFER and SIMDO and the collaboration with specialists in inflammatory bowel diseases and dermatology, immunologists, infectious disease experts and vaccine specialists.
Fibromyalgia, Gender, and the Pelvic Floor
The program tackled fibromyalgia, with CReI announcing an institutional action across all Italian regions, and included an analysis of gender in rheumatic diseases.
Patrizia Amato, Gender Medicine Laboratory, CReI: «Men and women are not the same subjects to be treated in medicine. Consider, for example, systemic lupus erythematosus, a rheumatic disease that affects women predominantly, but in men it can express with potentially more serious complications. Today it is no longer possible to treat them identically: we absolutely need to change our perspective, and CReI is active in this regard with all its members».
On the pelvic floor, Tiziana Nava, CReI Physiotherapy Group: «Complex rheumatic diseases express themselves with regional involvements that can be as particular as the pelvic floor, which in systemic sclerosis and fibromyalgia can over time lead to chronic pain. That is why it is crucial, on one hand, for rheumatologists to know and identify pelvic floor problems, and on the other, to initiate rehabilitation therapies that help address and overcome those disorders that are not just localized but global».
Difficult-to-Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis
Raffaele Zicolella, Executive Coordinator, CReI: «By difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis we mean a condition in which patients do not respond to treatment and have a persistently active disease, leading both the physician and the patient to perceive the disease as complicated. This necessitates a “patientspecific” therapy, not a generic one, because we are dealing with a persistently active disease».
Maurizio Benucci, Coordinator of the CReI Scientific Committee, underscored the positive outcomes of the Congress and the value of practical discussion of clinical cases, pointing to an in-depth examination of difficult-to-treat cases in Rheumatoid Arthritis as a prime example.
The Future of CReI
The president of CReI, Severino Martin Martin, stresses «that the future of the College aligns with its long history: to continue caring for patients with the utmost expertise and ongoing training. But this must—and can—happen in a context where Science and Practice are never separated, strengthening community-based rheumatology and continuing to build networks to ensure the best possible care for patients».
On the human and humanitarian level he adds: «just these days I returned from Equatorial Guinea, where we received an official request: some institutional representatives asked us to collaborate on training rheumatologists, both by going there to train local doctors and by developing cultural exchanges that will certainly be very interesting for us as well. It is a project still to be defined, but I believe it could be a useful direction for the College to pursue».
Artificial Intelligence and Personalized Care
Beyond the “human factor,” CReI is betting on advanced technologies, always managed by the “human specialist”. Artificial intelligence was a central theme of the Bologna Congress.
Daniela Marotto: «The declared goal of CReI is to reach personalized patient care, ensuring comprehensive management through the correct, multidisciplinary use of all the data we can collect through artificial intelligence. For this reason, the College is launching a partnership with a foundation that focuses on artificial intelligence and biomedical analysis, and we expect to develop projects that provide our members with tools to support diagnoses and therapies, and therefore deliver answers for patients that have thus far remained out of reach».
Abbonati a Karla Miller
