Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Author Archive

HEEDING CLUES TO GIANT CELL ARTERITIS: Prompt response can prevent vision loss Failing to recognize the presenting signs and symptoms of giant cell arteritis … affected patients. (Postgraduate Medicine)

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Conclusions
Schizophrenia was associated with a greater variety of autoimmune diseases than was anticipated. Further investigation is needed to gain a better understanding of the aetiology of schizophrenia and autoimmune diseases. (Source: The British Journal of Psychiatry)

CONCLUSION: Expression of GR and the presence of CD20-, CD3-, CD4-, CD8-, CD68-, CD138-positive cells and antigen-presenting cells differ between GCA and PMR. The presence of CD68-positive cells and the extent of GR-staining in chronic inflammation are suitable to predict complete remission in GCA.
PMID: 19684157 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: J Rheumatol)
MedWorm: Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Conclusions: Transient ischaemic attack is an alternative presentation or complication of an inflammatory disease such as temporal arteritis. The clinical implications of this case relate to the assessment of comorbid risk in TA and in tailoring the drug treatment. In using prednisolone treatments in such patients, general practitioners will need to carefully titrate drug doses and the duration of treatment to prevent complications. Clear evidence for the precise type of management remains to be established. (Source: Cases Journal)

To determine polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) prevalence using population-based administrative data, and to estimate the error associated with case ascertainment approaches when using these databases.Cases were ascertained using physician billing and hospitalization data from the province of Manitoba (population 1.1 million). Focusing on the population age [ge]45 years, we compared 3 different case definition algorithms and also used statistical methods that accounted for imperfect case ascertainment to estimate the prevalence and the properties of the ascertainment algorithms. A hierarchical Bayesian latent class regression model was developed that also allowed us to assess differences across patient demographics (sex and region of residence).Using methods that account for the imperfect natur…
MedWorm: Polymyalgia Rheumatica

No abstract. (Source: Arthritis and Rheumatism)
MedWorm: Polymyalgia Rheumatica

No abstract. (Source: Arthritis and Rheumatism)
MedWorm: Polymyalgia Rheumatica

CONCLUSION: One third of the biopsies performed at our centre were positive for GCA. The clinical variables that best predicted a positive TAB in our series were headache, jaw claudication, and abnormal temporal artery on palpation.
PMID: 19712860 [PubMed - in process] (Source: European Journal of Internal Medicine)
MedWorm: Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Dr. Adam Levine: Today’s case is that of a 67-year-old man, a retired physician of Indian origin, who was referred to the emergency department (ED) by his primary care physician for a 2-day history of increasing shortness of breath and an outpatient computed tomography (CT) scan that showed multiple pulmonary nodules. The patient stated that he was well until 2 months previously, when he acutely developed lower back pain. His primary care physician ordered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine, which showed L2/3 spinal stenosis. The patient subsequently received steroid injections on two occasions. Of note, he reported receiving significant dental work during the same time period. A week after the spinal injections, the patient developed a low grade fever and night sweats. H…

No abstract. (Source: Arthritis Care and Research)
MedWorm: Polymyalgia Rheumatica