In this text, leading clinicians and clinical researchers discuss in practical detail contemporary treatments used in rheumatic diseases, emphasizing - without neglecting standard treatments - those experimental therapies now undergoing clinical trials and poised for early introduction into the rheumatology armamentarium. The diseases and therapeutic regimes examined here range from rheumatoid arthritis and its treatment by gene therapy, to osteoarthritis and systemic autoimmune diseases. Each chapter is organized so that the busy clinician can quickly obtain all the information needed...