Principles of diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases in the practice of a general physician

Course curriculum

• Patient with joint pain. Assessment of complaints and history
• Patient management pathways (Basic concepts, the pathway of a patient with joint pain)
• Assessment of complaints. Pain syndrome (Septic arthritis, "Mechanical" type of pain, "Inflammatory" type of pain, inflammatory and mechanical pain)
• Osteoarthritis in the practice of an internist
• Definition and key features of osteoarthritis (Diagnostic criteria for osteoarthritis, classification, functional impairment, examples of diagnosis formulation)
• Diagnosis of osteoarthritis ("Mechanical" type of pain, laboratory diagnostics, instrumental diagnostics, indications for MRI)
• Treatment of osteoarthritis (Treatment algorithm for a patient with OA, non-pharmacological methods, drug therapy, SYSADOA, topical therapy of osteoarthritis)
• Hyperuricemia and gout in the practice of an internist
• Definition of hyperuricemia and gout (Sites of possible onset of gouty arthritis, hyperuricemia and the cardiovascular system)
• Diagnostic criteria (ACR/EULAR 2015 diagnostic criteria)
• Initial examination (Acute gouty attack, radiography)
• Follow-up monitoring (Target organ damage, monitoring the efficacy and safety of urate-lowering therapy)
• Treatment of gout and hyperuricemia (Relief of a gout attack, management algorithm for patients with HU, allopurinol and kidney pathology, uricosuric drug group, additional methods, dietary recommendations)
• Rheumatoid arthritis in the practice of a therapist
• Rheumatoid arthritis – definition and key features (Predisposing factors for RA development, the main link of pathogenesis)
• Diagnostic criteria (ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria)
• Initial examination and diagnosis formulation (Main clinical symptoms, «transverse compression» test, additional examination methods, diagnosis formulation, examination during therapy, densitometry in RA)
• Treatment (Disease-modifying anti-inflammatory drugs, methotrexate, basic therapy and pregnancy, genetically engineered biological agents, Janus kinase inhibitors)
• Psoriatic arthritis in the practice of a therapist
• Psoriatic arthritis – definition and key features of the disease (Pathogenesis, features of the joint syndrome, clinical forms, skin involvement in PsA, diagnostic criteria)
• Treatment (NSAIDs in PsA, disease-modifying anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Reactive arthritis in the practice of a therapist
• Definition and main features of reactive arthritis (Concepts and definitions, main pathogens, fundamentals of ReA pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, extra-articular manifestations)
• Diagnosis of reactive arthritis (Diagnostic criteria, infection diagnosis, instrumental diagnosis)
• Treatment of reactive arthritis (Antibiotic therapy, relief of joint syndrome, physiotherapy)
• Axial spondyloarthritis in the practice of the internist
• Definition and key features (Spondyloarthritis group, ankylosing spondylitis, modified New York criteria, functional tests, Rg stages of sacroiliitis)
• Diagnosis formulation and use of activity indices (Clinical classification, diagnosis formulation examples, activity index)
• Treatment (Non-pharmacological methods, NSAIDs, anti-inflammatory drugs)
• Systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome in the practice of an internist
• SLE and APS – establishing the diagnosis (Concepts and definitions, epidemiology, causes of the disease, pathogenesis, general symptoms, diagnostic algorithms)
• SLE and APS – principles of therapy (Recommendations of the European League Against Rheumatism, treatment of lupus nephritis)
• Progressive systemic sclerosis in the practice of an internist
• Progressive systemic sclerosis – establishing the diagnosis (Definition, Raynaud's syndrome, skin involvement, articular syndrome, organ involvement, Laboratory diagnostics, pulmonary function testing, ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria)
• Progressive systemic sclerosis – treatment (Main drug groups, Raynaud's syndrome and digital ulcers, skin involvement, interstitial lung disease)
• Sjögren's syndrome in the practice of an internist
• Sjögren's syndrome – establishing the diagnosis (Concepts and definitions, prevalence of Sjögren's syndrome, causes, pathogenesis, gastrointestinal involvement, diagnostic criteria, laboratory diagnosis, diagnostic criteria for Sjögren's disease)
• Sjögren's syndrome – treatment (Non-pharmacological methods, treatment of sicca syndrome, treatment of gastrointestinal involvement)
• Osteoporosis in the practice of an internist
• Osteoporosis – key features (Concepts and definition, etiopathogenesis, primary and secondary osteoporosis)
• Osteoporosis – diagnostics (Fracture risk assessment, indications for DXA densitometry, FRAX calculator, evaluation of osteoporosis progression dynamics, laboratory parameters)
• Osteoporosis – treatment (Main principles of treatment, set of therapeutic measures, physical activity)
• Assessment of additional examination methods in rheumatology
• Instrumental diagnostics
• Selection of Analgesic Therapy for a Patient with Articular Syndrome
• General principles
• Treatment depending on the patient's «profile»