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09-Mar-2024
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Arch Hellen Med, 41(2), March-April 2024, 270-274 CASE REPORT What is behind the diagnostic curtain? A teaching case of polymyalgia rheumatica A. Aristodimou,1 K.J. Ioakim,2 S. Hadjivassiliou3 |
An 81-year-old female was admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine with generalized weakness and arthralgia with a predilection to the spine and shoulder girdle, walking difficulty and mild memory loss of one week's duration. Symptomatology spontaneously resolved after two weeks of admission but recurred at follow-up along with a mixed disease impression, where an exhaustive list of diagnoses was ruled out. Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an aseptic inflammatory condition that may be diagnostically challenging, especially in patients with multiple comorbidities, and therefore, critical clinical thinking is imperative. Our case elucidated that the cornerstone of differential diagnosis and patient treatment is an excellent retrieval of medical history, in combination with reinforcement from the physical exam and radiological-laboratory work-up.
Key words: Giant cell arteritis, Musculoskeletal disease, Polymyalgia rheumatica, Rheumatic disease.
