[Polymyalgia rheumatica and aortic involvement]

G Ital Cardiol (Rome). 2014 May;15(5):306-12. doi: 10.1714/1563.17031.
[Article in Italian]

Abstract

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disorder that affects people over 50 years of age, characterized by pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulder and pelvic girdles. PMR may occur as an isolated condition or concomitantly with giant cell arteritis. Similar to other inflammatory rheumatic disorders, PMR is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk due to inflammatory changes in large arterial vessels, which result in an increased chance of developing aneurysms and dissections. International guidelines do not provide specific indications about the management of PMR patients with aortic wall inflammation. In this review, we propose a diagnostic pathway for the management of PMR patients with aortic involvement based on literature data and personal experience.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Echocardiography
  • Giant Cell Arteritis / complications
  • Giant Cell Arteritis / diagnosis*
  • Giant Cell Arteritis / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Polymyalgia Rheumatica / complications
  • Polymyalgia Rheumatica / diagnosis*
  • Polymyalgia Rheumatica / drug therapy
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed