First described in 1888 by William Bruce, a physician practising in Scotland, polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory condition of unknown aetiology. Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a vasculitis of medium or large arteries, also of unknown cause. Because the two conditions often occur together (5% of patients with PMR develop GCA and conversely 40–50% of patients with GCA also have PMR), they are thought to share the same underlying pathophysiology, being opposite ends of the same spectrum. Unfortunately, there is no firm evidence to support this.
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