● Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Juvenile RA (JRA) joints; less commonly lung, skin ● Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) skin, joints, kidneys, heart, brain, red blood cells, other ● Scleroderma skin, intestine, less commonly lung ● Sjogren's syndrome salivary glands, tear glands, joints ● Goodpasture's syndrome lungs, kidneys ● Wegener's granulomatosis blood vessels, sinuses, lungs, kidneys ●...

Giant cell arteritis is an inflammatory vasculopathy that preferentially affects medium-sized and large arteries. A viral cause has been suspected but not confirmed in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant-cell arteritis. We report the case of a 81-year-old female who suffered from chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection and developed giant cell temporal arteritis.

● Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Juvenile RA (JRA) joints; less commonly lung, skin ● Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) skin, joints, kidneys, heart, brain, red blood cells, other ● Scleroderma skin, intestine, less commonly lung ● Sjogren's syndrome salivary glands, tear glands, joints ● Goodpasture's syndrome lungs, kidneys ● Wegener's granulomatosis blood vessels, sinuses, lungs, kidneys ●...

Eighteen patients with polymyalgia rheumatica had corticosteroid treatment withdrawn abruptly under close observation. In each case polymyalgic symptoms reappeared but were controlled rapidly when prednisolone was reintroduced. Prednisolone withdrawal was then started by slow decrements of dose. In no patient was it possible to withdraw prednisolone treatment, after using either method, during ...

A 70-year-old woman presenting with typical polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and a normal temporal artery biopsy appeared to respond completely to low-dose prednisone therapy. A subsequent biopsy showing temporal arteritis with a normal sedimentation rate and no recurrence of myalgic symptoms emphasizes the unpredictable course of treated PMR and the need for continued clinical as well as laborator...

A 77 year old man with an eight month history of polymyalgia rheumatica treated by steroids underwent left lower lobectomy for a non-small cell carcinoma. Following discharge he developed a pneumothorax, empyema, septicaemia, and acute renal failure. Reinvestigation and reoperation showed this to be caused by a non-malignant non-traumatic direct gastropleural

Approximately half of PMR patients have a relapse with a necessity to increase GC dosages. The role of external factors in inducing PMR relapse have been poorly investigated. We present a case-series of five PMR patients in remission with low doses of glucocorticosteroids (GC), who presented with relapse immediately after a fall. The assessment of PMR relapse was made using PMR-AS by Leeb and B...