Obligatory medical device diagnostics.
- Arthrosonography (ultrasonography of joints) [Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica does not cause structural joint changes; tendosynovialitis (inflammation of the tendon sheath), bursitis (inflammation of the bursa) subdeltoid or/and synovitis (inflammation of the synovial membrane) of the glenohumeral joints (shoulder joint) may be detectable].
- Color duplex sonography of the temporal artery (temporal arteries) – if giant cell arteritis is suspected.
- Temporalis biopsy (tissue sampling from the temporal artery) – if giant cell arteritis is suspected.
Optional medical device diagnostics – depending on the results of the history, physical examination, laboratory diagnostics and obligatory medical device diagnostics – for differential diagnostic clarification.
- Duplex sonography (ultrasound examination: combination of a sonographic cross-sectional image (B-scan) and the Doppler sonography method; imaging method in medicine that can dynamically represent fluid flows (especially blood flow)) of the extremity arteries.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – computer-assisted cross-sectional imaging method (using magnetic fields, i.e., without X-rays); particularly well suited for imaging soft tissue injuries; e.g., MRI of the cervical spine in patients with pronounced neck pain [bursitis between the processi spinosi?]
- Positron emission tomography (PET; 18F-FDG-PET; nuclear medicine procedure that allows the creation of cross-sectional images of living organisms by visualizing the distribution patterns of weak radioactive substances) – in cases of suspected vasculitis (inflammatory diseases of the blood vessels) of the great vessels (inflammation detection).
A limited tumor search seems reasonable, because malignant (malignant) tumors often appear in the first year after diagnosis.
