title: Rheumatic diseases. 1. Differential diagnosis.
abstract: In a case of rheumatic disease, the patient's history and a careful physical examination should yield most of the information needed to identify the specific disorder present. A convenient classification is based on four differentiating features: number of joints affected, acuteness or chronicity of disease, absence of joint involvement, and anatomic distribution.
mesh_terms: D001167:Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D001168:Arthritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000175:diagnosis; D016918:Arthritis, Reactive / Q000175:diagnosis; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D002805:Chondrocalcinosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis; D006073:Gout / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D011111:Polymyalgia Rheumatica / Q000175:diagnosis; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy / Q000175:diagnosis; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012213:Rheumatic Fever / Q000175:diagnosis; D012785:Shoulder Joint; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000175:diagnosis; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis