Stages of gout
What stages of gout should be distinguished?
Dr Filip Van den Bosch, associate professor of rheumatology at Ghent University, Belgium, reviews the current diagnostic methods, treatment, and activity measurement used in patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis in a conversation with Dr Mariusz Korkosz.
What in your opinion is most important in the diagnostics of gout? Which of the available diagnostic criteria seem most useful?
What are the typical features of giant cell arteritis (GCA)? What are the atypical features of GCA and in what proportion of patients can they be seen?
Which patients with polymyalgia rheumatica require treatment with methotrexate and leflunomide?
Are doses of methotrexate and leflunomide the same in polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)?
Does treatment really reduce fracture risk in patients with osteoporosis?
Preradiographic axial spondyloarthritis seems to be a rather nonspecific diagnosis because a significant proportion of patients do not progress to ankylosing spondylitis. How can we improve our diagnostic accuracy?
When should we consider treatment of osteoporosis? What is the best method to guide decision-making (Fracture Risk Assessment Tool, densitometry)?
Malignancies often mimic polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), especially in the first months of the disease. Are there any distinguishing features of paraneoplastic PMR-like syndromes?