Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion List your great doc here! Any good diagnosticians in Boston area?

Hi all,

I live in RI, which is not far from Boston.

Does anybody know of a good rheumatologist who would be able to diagnose whether in fact I have spondyloarthritis or reactive arthritis early in the disease.

I've suffered now for two and a half years of intense pain with no diagnosis so far. From my own research I fulfill several criteria for either reactive- or spondyloarthritis. However, my local rheumatologist seems stumped. He didn't even do the obvious test for HLA-B27, and in the absence of a clear effort from him to come up with a diagnosis, I have lost confidence in him.

Does anybody know of anyone really good whom you might recommend in Massachusetts or RI (it seems that MA might have a better selection)? Despite lots of pain, I do not have clear radiological findings at this stage, and I am looking for someone whom I could be really confident not to miss a diagnosis of early spondyloarthropathy or reactive arthritis, if indeed this is what I have, or be able to eliminate the possibility with some confidence if not.

bump

You mentioned in another thread that you have an appointment at Leahy - seems like a good start.

One thing you can do is find the Rheumatology/Immunology faculty at the Medical Schools within driving distance. Read all the faculty profiles where they list their interests and then try to get an appointment with one who specializes in spondy diseases (if there is one.)