Polimialgia reumática: estudio descriptivo en Medellín, Colombia

background: polymyalgia rheumatic is a syndrome that affects people over 50 years, characterized by pain and stiffness of shoulder and pelvic girdle. its behavior in our population is unknown. it may be a manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematous, and neoplasm or could be associated with giant cells arteritis and it is a common indication for steroid usage. objective: to analyze clinical, laboratory and treatment features of patients with pmr in medellín between 1998-2011. methodology: descriptive cross-sectional study. we reviewed medical records of patients with pmr with at least 1 follow-up visit. we analyzed social, demographic, clinical, laboratory and therapeutic variables. results: the records of 68 patients were assessed, 79.7% women. pain and stiffness in shoulder and pelvic girdle were major symptoms. 62.3% had erythrocyte sedimentation rate equal to or greater than 40 mm/h and 81.2% had c reactive protein equal to or greater than 0.8 mg/dl. 76.9% received doses of prednisolone of 15 mg/day or below. 95.7% responded within the first 3 months of treatment, 94.2% showed remission (84.6% within the first 6 months), 39.1% relapsed (most within the first year of monitoring). those with elevated esr had a lower response in the first month. five patients developed rheumatoid arthritis and two patients giant cells arteritis. conclusions: these findings add more information about the clinical characteristics of patients with pmr. they allow suggesting early responses to treatment with low to moderate doses of steroids and a lower initial response in patients with elevated esr. design and sample size are insufficient to identify statistically significant associations.