[Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: two manifestations of the same disease?]

Abstract

Introduction: Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) are associated conditions that typically affect older patients, usually over the age of 50. Their clinical presentations often overlap, and the two can even transition into one another. Increasingly, they are viewed not as distinct diseases but as manifestations of a single disease spectrum. Common symptoms include shoulder pain, headaches, and visual disturbances. Diagnosis relies on imaging and inflammatory markers. Both conditions are initially treated with glucocorticoids, increasingly complemented by IL-6 inhibitors or methotrexate. New therapeutic approaches such as JAK inhibitors are currently in development.