Introduction Etiology The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) include polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), and sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM). The IIMs are thought to be systemic autoimmune disorders, although a specific autoantigen has not been identified. DM is a complement mediated…
Etiology Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) represents a heterogeneous group of autoimmune disorders that begin in childhood and involve persistent inflammation of one or more joints. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is an umbrella term for all chronic childhood arthropathies and can be…
Etiology, Epidemiology, and Prevalence The distinctiveness of the connective tissue diseases is less pronounced than the classification system implies. In practice, there is a continuous spectrum of symptom combinations, merging features of various entities. Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is…
Etiology Despite the explosion of molecular genetic research in the past decades, the etiology of this prototype autoimmune disease is still elusive. A confusing complexity of serologic, immunopathologic, and genetic phenomena has been described, most of which are likely to…
Etiology Progressive scleroderma (also known as progressive systemic sclerosis [PSS] ) is one of the collagen vascular diseases, which makes it one of the systemic autoimmune disorders. Collagen vascular diseases include the following: PSS (progressive scleroderma) Systemic lupus erythematosus Polymyositis…
Clinical Presentation Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is the prototype of the seronegative spondyloarthropathies, a moderately heterogeneous group of distinct entities composed of AS, psoriatic spondyloarthropathy, reactive spondyloarthropathy (Reiter syndrome), enteropathic spondyloarthropathy in Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis, and so-called undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy.…
Reactive arthritis is a postinfectious seronegative spondyloarthropathy (SNSA) syndrome characterized by a spectrum of specific musculoskeletal and extra-articular manifestations. The syndrome occurs after infection with specific organisms in two major settings: diarrheal illness and urogenital infection. The majority of patients…
Psoriatic arthritis (synonym: psoriatic osteoarthropathy) is an autoimmune response disorder that belongs to the seronegative spondarthropathies. It is strongly associated with dermatologic psoriasis. Psoriatic spondylarthropathy (synonym: psoriatic spondyloarthritis) refers to the involvement of the axial skeleton in patients who suffer…
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and progressive inflammatory systemic disease that primarily affects the synovium and is characterized by destruction of bone and cartilage. The small joints of the hands and feet are typically affected, although the larger joints…
Degeneration and loss of joint function are common end points for many arthropathies, the most prevalent of which is osteoarthritis (OA). Until the late twentieth century, OA was regarded as a mechanical disease, with damage to the articular surface resulting…