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Biomedical subjects

K R Wilske

Publications and source records attributed to K R Wilske.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis.

Polymyalgia rheumatica is a relatively common syndrome of older patients, mostly white, manifested by aching and morning stiffness of the pelvic and shoulder girdles and accompanied by a rapid erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The symptoms are due to a synovitis, which is mild, nondestructive and very responsive to low-dose steroid treatment, which may need to be continued for several years. Temporal arteritis, which may accompany polymyalgia, can present as headache, loss of vision, diplopia or jaw claudication. To suppress arterial inflammation and preserve vision, administration of prednisone, 50 mg a day for one month, is recommended, following which the dose is tapered according to the symptoms, not the sedimentation rate.

Female↗
PubMed1980

Presentation of occult giant cell arteritis.

Temporal headache, blindness, and polymyalgia rheumatica are well-recognized manifestions of giant cell arteritis. However, the disease may present in less evident fashion as shown by 30 of 74 patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis whose predominant complaint was not one ot these cardinal symptoms. For this group of 30, the main problem was fever in 12 patients, anorexia, weight loss, and elevated serum alkaline phosphatase level suggesting an occult malignancy in 7, and unexplained anemia in 3. Four patients had a neurologic syndrome; 2 had diplopia and 2 acute weakness of one arm. Claudication was the chief complaint of 4 patients, involving the leg in 1, the arm in 1, and the jaw in 2. All patients responded well to steroid therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

Diffuse pulmonary injury associated with gold treatment.

Two patients had diffuse, reversible pulmonary injury possibly owing to gold sodium thiomalate treatment: a 32-year-old woman with chronic inflammatory arthritis compatible with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis and a 32-year-old man with shoulder arthralgia. The patients had received 420 mg and 325 mg of gold sodium thiomalate, respectively. Cough and dyspnea began in the seventh and fifth weeks of therapy, respectively. In both patients x-ray study showed bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, with no evidence of pleural disease. The woman had no other manifestations of hypersensitivity to gold. The man had exfoliative dermatitis fever and anemia. Lung biopsies from both patients revealed lymphocytes and plasma cells infiltrating the alveolar septa and interstitial fibrosis. The woman improved slowly during four months after discontinuation of therapy. Pulmonary symptoms recurred after additional gold therapy, and again resolved when gold was discontinued. The man, treated with prednisone, showed prompt remission and remains will without medication.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1975

Light and electron microscopic studies on human temporal arteries with special reference to alterations related to senescence, atherosclerosis and giant cell arteritis.

Temporal artery biopsy specimens from 26 patients of various ages with and without giant cell arteritis afforded an opportunity to examine several ultrastructural features of these human muscular arteries, including senescent and atherosclerotic alterations and the fine structural pathology of temporal arteritis. The unusual pathologic features of temporal arteritis were found superimposed on the progressive accumulation of smooth muscle cells, collagen and occasional discrete intimal atherosclerotic plaques in the intima of aging arteries. Two features of giant cell arteritis were conspicuous: first, the accumulation of large numbers of histiocytes and epitheloid and giant cells at the intimal-medial junction and second, fragmentation, degeneration and dissolution of the internal elastic lamina. The close proximity of the granulomatous reaction to the degenerating lamina suggests that these two aspects of the pathologic picture are in some way related, and possible immunologic mechanisms of this relationship are discussed on the basis of the ultrastructural findings.

Aged↗