Recommendations for early referral of individuals with suspected polymyalgia rheumatica: An initiative from the international giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica study group

Objective To develop international consensus-based recommendations for early referral of individuals with suspected polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Methods A task force including 29 rheumatologists/ internists, 4 general practitioners, 4 patients and a healthcare professional emerged from the international giant cell arteritis and PMR study group. The task force supplied clinical questions, subsequently transformed into Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome format. A systematic literature review was conducted followed by online meetings to formulate and vote on final recommendations. Levels of evidence (LOE) (1–5 scale) and agreement (LOA) (0–10 scale) were evaluated. Results Two overarching principles and five recommendations were developed. LOE was 4–5 and LOA ranged between 8.5 and 9.7. The recommendations suggest that (1) each individual with suspected or recently diagnosed PMR should be considered for specialist evaluation, (2) before referring an individual with suspected PMR to specialist care, a thorough history and clinical examination should be performed and preferably complemented with urgent basic laboratory investigations, (3) individuals with suspected PMR with severe symptoms should be referred for specialist evaluation using rapid access strategies, (4) in individuals with suspected PMR who are referred via rapid access, the commencement of glucocorticoid therapy should be deferred until after specialist evaluation and (5) individuals diagnosed with PMR in specialist care with a good initial response to glucocorticoids and a low risk of glucocorticoid related adverse events can be managed in primary care. Conclusions These are the first international recommendations for referral of individuals with suspected PMR, which complement the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology/American College of Rheumatology management guidelines for established PMR

Exceptional Association of Hypocomplementemic Urticarial Vasculitis Syndrome (HUVS) and Symptomatic Pulmonary Histoplasmosis: A Case-Based Literature Review

Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis syndrome (HUVS) is a rare type III hypersensitivity disorder characterized by urticarial vasculitis and prolonged hypocomplementemia. Individuals with HUVS may also have joint involvement, pulmonary manifestations, ocular disease, kidney inflammation, or any other form of organ involvement. Hypocomplementemia, the presence of C1q antibody in the serum, and urticarial vasculitis are the keys to the diagnosis of HUVS. It has been reported to accompany certain infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, infectious mononucleosis, and coxsackie group A. However, it has never been reported to be linked to histoplasmosis in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first case of HUVS presenting concurrently with pulmonary histoplasmosis

Recommendations for early referral of individuals with suspected polymyalgia rheumatica: an initiative from the international giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica study group

Objective: To develop international consensus-based recommendations for early referral of individuals with suspected polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR).Methods: A task force including 29 rheumatologists/internists, 4 general practitioners, 4 patients and a healthcare professional emerged from the international giant cell arteritis and PMR study group. The task force supplied clinical questions, subsequently transformed into Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome format. A systematic literature review was conducted followed by online meetings to formulate and vote on final recommendations. Levels of evidence (LOE) (1-5 scale) and agreement (LOA) (0-10 scale) were evaluated.Results: Two overarching principles and five recommendations were developed. LOE was 4-5 and LOA ranged between 8.5 and 9.7. The recommendations suggest that (1) each individual with suspected or recently diagnosed PMR should be considered for specialist evaluation, (2) before referring an individual with suspected PMR to specialist care, a thorough history and clinical examination should be performed and preferably complemented with urgent basic laboratory investigations, (3) individuals with suspected PMR with severe symptoms should be referred for specialist evaluation using rapid access strategies, (4) in individuals with suspected PMR who are referred via rapid access, the commencement of glucocorticoid therapy should be deferred until after specialist evaluation and (5) individuals diagnosed with PMR in specialist care with a good initial response to glucocorticoids and a low risk of glucocorticoid related adverse events can be managed in primary care.Conclusions: These are the first international recommendations for referral of individuals with suspected PMR, which complement the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology/American College of Rheumatology management guidelines for established PMR.Keywords: Giant Cell Arteritis; Polymyalgia Rheumatica; Vasculitis