Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) or peripheral arthritis may require extra vigilance during treatment because of a suspected link to giant cell arteritis (GCA) and, potentially, permanent vision loss. “Development of giant cell arteritis after treating polymyalgia or peripheral arthritis: a retrospective case-control study,” a March 2018 study published in The Journal of Rheumatology, suggests…
When Harry Spiera, MD, stepped out of the New York University School of Medicine in 1958, rheumatology was in its infancy. Obviously, much has changed for both the physician and the specialty over the 58 years between then and his recent retirement. “Early on, rheumatology was the most clinical of the specialties, because the science…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant-cell arteritis (GCA) have similarly increased risks of fracture, compared with the general population, researchers have found. “It is of surprise that patients with GCA have a similar fracture risk to those with PMR,” Dr. Zoe Paskins from Keele University, in Staffordshire, told Reuters Health by…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—From diagnosis questions to infection risk to treatment decisions, handling giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) comes with a range of challenges for clinicians. Speaking in the ACR Review Course at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, an expert—Rebecca Manno, MD, MHS, assistant professor of medicine in rheumatology at Johns Hopkins, as well…
When I started my rheumatology practice 40 years ago, it quickly became apparent that many referrals of presumed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) patients and presumed giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients were the recipients of devastating side effects from long-term corticosteroid (CS) use that could not be discontinued due to prompt recurrence of inflammatory phenomena. It was…
Recognizing the need to provide guidance on the current disparate management of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), recently published the first international set of recommendations for the screening, treatment and management of PMR.1,2 Specifically, the recommendations offer guidance on the use of…
Two new ACR publications, created in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism, aim to improve the treatment of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and introduce new classification criteria for gout…
In late February 2011, a 68-year-old woman visited the rheumatology outpatient clinic. She had been congenitally healthy and had been a field athlete in her early days. Beginning in early January 2011, she became aware of pain in her neck and both shoulders, with pain spreading to her lower back and thighs. She also became…
ACR, European League Against Rheumatism, other groups, to work together creating disease criteria and response sets, patient management guidelines
The origination of the ailing word and its variations throughout history used to describe rheumatic disorders