A rare concurrence of polymyalgia rheumatica and AA amyloidosis

Abstract

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a rare chronic inflammatory disease. It predominantly affects the elderly. The disease has a slow onset, pain and stiffness in the muscles of the shoulder and pelvic girdle, fever, weight loss, and a high acute-phase inflammatory response. The disease is concurrent with giant cell arteritis in a quarter of cases, which allows some authors to consider them as two different manifestations of the same pathological process. The kidneys are rarely involved. This disease is rarely complicated by AA amyloidosis. The authors describe a case of RPM in a patient who has developed secondary AA amyloidosis.