Glossary

Polmyostis

Polymyositis (pol-e-mi-o-SI-tis) is a persistent inflammatory muscle disease that causes weakness of the skeletal muscles, which control movement. Medically, polymyositis is classified as a chronic inflammatory myopathy – one of only three such diseases.

Polymyositis can occur at any age, but it mostly affects adults in their 30s, 40s or 50s. It’s more common in blacks than in whites, and women are affected more often than men are. Polymyositis signs and symptoms usually develop gradually, over weeks or months.

Remissions – periods during which symptoms spontaneously disappear – are rare in polymyositis. However, treatment can improve your muscle strength and function.

Polyarteritis Nodosa

Polyarteritis Nodosa (also known as “Panarteritis nodosa” and “Periarteritis nodosa”) is a vasculitis of medium & small-sized arteries, which become swollen and damaged from attack by rogue immune cells. Polyarteritis nodosa is also called Kussmaul disease orKussmaul-Maier disease. Infantile polyarteritis nodosa is a type of PAN restricted to infants.

Polymyalgia Rheumatic

Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory disorder that causes muscle pain and stiffness. The pain and stiffness often occur in your shoulders, neck, upper arms and hips. Symptoms of polymyalgia rheumatica (pol-ee-my-AL-juh roo-MA-ti-kah) usually begin quickly, within two weeks.

Most people who develop polymyalgia rheumatica are older than 65. It rarely affects people younger than 50.

Anti-inflammatory drugs called corticosteroids improve the symptoms of polymyalgia rheumatica, but these drugs require careful monitoring for serious side effects.

Polymyalgia rheumatica is related to another inflammatory disorder called giant cell arteritis, which can cause headaches, vision difficulties, jaw pain and other symptoms. It’s possible to have both of these conditions together.

Polymyositis

The exact cause of Polymyositis is unknown, but the disease shares many characteristics with autoimmune disorders, in which your immune system attacks normal body components. Normally, your immune system works to protect your healthy cells from attacks by foreign substances, such as bacteria and viruses. If you have Polymyositis, an unknown cause may act as a trigger for your immune system to begin producing autoimmune antibodies (autoantibodies) that attack your body’s own tissues. Many people with Polymyositis show a detectable level of autoantibodies in their blood.

Postmyocardial Infarction Syndrome

Postmyocardial Infarction Syndrome is a secondary form of pericarditis that occurs in the setting of injury to the heart or the pericardium (the outer lining of the heart). It consists of a triad of features, fever, pleuritic pain and pericardial effusion.

Postmyocardial Infarction Syndrome is also known as Dressler’s Syndrome and the term is sometimes used to refer to post-pericardiotomy pericarditis.

It was first characterized by William Dressler in 1956.

Postpericardiotomy Syndrome

Postpericardiotomy Syndrome (PPS) is a medical syndrome referring to an immune phenomenon that occurs days to months (usually 1–6 weeks) after surgical incision of the pericardium (membranes encapsulating the human heart). PPS can also be caused after a trauma, a puncture of the cardiac or pleural structures (such as a bullet or stab wound), after percutaneous coronary intervention (such as stent placement after amyocardial infarction or heart attack), or due to pacemaker or pacemaker wire placement.

Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Primary biliary cirrhosis is a disease in which the bile ducts in your liver are slowly destroyed. Bile, a fluid produced in your liver, plays a role in digesting food and helps rid your body of worn-out red blood cells, cholesterol and toxins. When bile ducts are damaged, as in primary biliary cirrhosis, harmful substances can build up in your liver and sometimes lead to irreversible scarring of liver tissue (cirrhosis).

Primary biliary cirrhosis is thought to be an autoimmune disease in which the body turns against its own cells, but what triggers primary biliary cirrhosis isn’t clear.

Primary biliary cirrhosis develops slowly. Medication can slow the progression of the disease, especially if treatment begins early.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

Primary Sclerosing (skluh-ROHS-ing) Cholangitis (koh-lan-JIE-tis) is a disease of the bile ducts in your liver. The term “cholangitis” in primary sclerosing cholangitis refers to inflammation of the bile ducts, while the term “sclerosing” describes the hardening and scarring of the bile ducts that result from chronic inflammation.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis is a progressive disease that leads to liver damage and, eventually, liver failure. Liver transplant is the only known cure for primary sclerosing cholangitis, but transplant is typically reserved for people with severe liver damage.

Researchers continue looking for treatments to slow or reverse bile duct damage caused by primary sclerosing cholangitis. But until a treatment is found, doctors care for people with primary sclerosing cholangitis by reducing signs and symptoms of complications.

Progesterone Dermatitis

Autoimmune Progesterone Dermatitis may appear as urticarial papules, deep gyrate lesions, papulovesicular lesions, an eczematous eruption, or as targetoid lesions. Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis initially manifests with eye symptoms, e.g. burning, and progresses into rashes. Its relapsing-remitting pattern in women correspond to the progesterone levels during the menstrual cycle, which spike twice a month. It is an extremely rare disease, only perhaps 50 cases have ever been reported.

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common skin disease that affects the life cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis causes cells to build up rapidly on the surface of the skin, forming thick silvery scales and itchy, dry, red patches that are sometimes painful.

Psoriasis is a persistent, long-lasting (chronic) disease. You may have periods when your psoriasis symptoms improve or go into remission alternating with times your psoriasis worsens.

For some people, psoriasis is just a nuisance. For others, it’s disabling, especially when associated with arthritis. There’s no cure, but psoriasis treatments may offer significant relief. Lifestyle measures, such as using a nonprescription cortisone cream and exposing your skin to small amounts of natural sunlight, can improve your psoriasis symptoms.

Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic Arthritis is a form of arthritis that affects some people who have psoriasis – a condition that features red patches of skin topped with silvery scales. Most people develop psoriasis first and are later diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, but the joint problems can sometimes begin before skin lesions appear.

Joint pain, stiffness and swelling are the main symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. They can affect any part of your body, including your fingertips and spine, and can range from relatively mild to severe. In both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, disease flares may alternate with periods of remission.

No cure for psoriatic arthritis exists, so the focus is on controlling symptoms and preventing damage to your joints. Without treatment, psoriatic arthritis may be disabling.

Pure Red Cell Aplasia

Pure Red Cell Aplasia (PRCA) or erythroblastopenia refers to a type of anemia affecting the precursors to red blood cells but not to white blood cells. In PRCA, the bone marrowceases to produce red blood cells. The condition has been first described by Paul Kaznelson in 1922.

Pyoderma Gangrenousum

Pyoderma gangrenosum (pie-oh-DER-muh gang-ruh-NO-sum) is a rare condition that causes large, painful sores (ulcers) to develop on your skin, most often on your legs.

It’s not certain what causes pyoderma gangrenosum, but it appears to be a disorder of the immune system. People who have certain underlying conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis, are at higher risk of pyoderma gangrenosum.

Treatment typically includes high doses of corticosteroids, such as prednisone, along with other drugs designed to suppress your immune system. It can take weeks or even months to heal the ulcers associated with pyoderma gangrenosum.

Raynauds Phenomenon

Raynaud’s (ray-NOHZ) disease is a condition that causes some areas of your body – such as your fingers, toes, the tip of your nose and your ears – to feel numb and cool in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud’s disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin narrow, limiting blood circulation to affected areas.

Women are more likely to have Raynaud’s disease. It’s also more common in people who live in colder climates.

Treatment of Raynaud’s disease depends on its severity and whether you have any other health conditions. For most people, Raynaud’s disease is more a nuisance than a disability.

Reactive Arthritis

Reactive arthritis is joint pain and swelling triggered by an infection in another part of your body — most often your intestines, genitals or urinary tract.

The joints in your knees, ankles and feet are the usual targets of reactive arthritis. Inflammation also may affect your eyes, skin and urethra when you have reactive arthritis.

Although reactive arthritis is sometimes called Reiter’s syndrome, Reiter’s is actually a specific type of reactive arthritis. In Reiter’s, inflammation typically affects the eyes and urethra, as well as your joints.

Reactive arthritis isn’t common. For most people, signs and symptoms of reactive arthritis come and go, eventually disappearing within 12 months.