- Discussion:
- polymyalgia rheumatica is a clinical syndrome that affects shoulder and hip girdles and causes severe pain and stiffness;
- usually pt is in the sixth to seventh decade of life;
- diff dx:
frozen shoulder (usually frozen shoulder is not associated w/ an elevated sed rate);
- Labs:
-
Sed Rate:
- disorder often presents w/ low grade fever, anemia, & markedly elevated erythrocyte
sed rate;
- sed rate is of diagnostic importance in pts who have polymyalgia rheumatica, for it is most consistent laboratory abnormality;
- value is of more than fifty mm/ hour, and often > 100 mm / hour;
- it is excellent indicator of activity of this disease, and serial measurements should be obtained;
- Treatment:
- it is usually responsive to low dose
corticosteroids and has excellent prognosis;
Treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. I. Steroid regimens in the first two months
