Rheumatic polymyalgia and temporal arteritis. Case contribution and bibliographic review

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a frequent clinical syndrome in the elderly, characterised by morning aching and stiffness in the shoulder and girdle muscles associated with an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and responsive to low-dose corticosteroid therapy. PMR may be associated with temporal arteritis (AT), a systemic granulomatous vasculitis predominantly affecting branches of the carotid artery in patients over the age of 50. Recent studies suggest an immunological pathogenesis for PMR and TA. Personal experience on 56 cases of PMR and TA, and a survey of the literature is reported and the articular manifestations and the differential diagnosis, are underlined. Polymyalgia rheumatica and temporal arteritis. Personal experience and survey of the literature.