Real-world outcomes of a dedicated fast-track polymyalgia rheumatica clinic.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the clinical impact of a fast-track PMR clinic to enable early diagnosis and treatment, and to define both patient and disease characteristics in newly diagnosed PMR.

METHODS

Primary care physicians were invited to refer patients with new PMR to our fast-track clinic. Referral criteria included new onset shoulder or pelvic girdle pain and/or stiffness with elevated inflammatory markers in patients over 50 years. All patients were seen within 72 h of referral. Patients with a rheumatology diagnosis of PMR had an US of their temporal and axillary arteries.

RESULTS

172 patients were referred from primary care over 12 months. 39% of patients referred with suspected PMR had an alternative diagnosis for which PMR regimen glucocorticoids was inappropriate. 55% of the non-PMR diagnoses were other inflammatory rheumatological conditions requiring follow-up. Only 20% of patients referred from primary care already on glucocorticoids were commenced on bone protection. PMR patients were comorbid, with a mean of 2.5 other conditions. 75% of PMR patients experienced a glucocorticoid-related adverse event in the first 12 months of treatment. 17% of patients with new PMR had US features of subclinical GCA.

CONCLUSION

The commencement of glucocorticoid therapy should be deferred until after specialist evaluation to enable an accurate clinical diagnosis. A delay in treatment can only realistically be avoided if general practitioners have access to a fast-track PMR clinic. We believe that rheumatologists should consider establishing fast-track PMR clinics and this study provides a strong case for and a template to support this practice innovation.