Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 June 2004
Polymyalgia rheumatica and temporal arteritis represent opposite poles of a single disease spectrum. In the former, girdle stiffness predominates; in the latter, frank vasculitis is demonstrable. There is no diagnostic laboratory test for polymyalgia rheumatica, and earlier reviews in 1993 and 1998 in this journal both drew attention to the difficulty in diagnosing polymyalgia rheumatica, particularly in the elderly.