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Rheumatology
There are 3 different further-education courses in rheumatology: the main course on Rheumatology of Internal Medicine, the auxiliary advanced course on Orthopaedic Rheumatology and the auxiliary advanced course on Paediatric Rheumatology.
Internal-medical rheumatology is primarily concerned with acute and chronic inflammatory illnesses of the locomotor system and of the connective tissue. In addition to this it is concerned with bone disease (e.g. osteoporosis), with hormonal, metabolic-dependent and degenerative joint diseases and with the various forms of soft-tissue rheumatism. |
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The focus is on inflammatory-dependent illnesses such as:
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rheumatoide Arthritis
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psoriatic arthropathy (psoriatic rheumatism) |
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Bechterew's disease (inflammatory spinal illness) |
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auto-immune illnesses, such as:
- lupus erythematosus
- sclerodermia
- Wegener's disease and
- other inflammatory connective-tissue diseases and
vascular illnesses.
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To avoid severe cases of illness, early diagnosis and treatment of the inflammatory joint, spinal or connective-tissue disease is decisive. With the help of anamnesis, a thorough physical examination and differentiated methods of examination the rheumatologist can detect inflammatory illnesses of the locomotor system and can distinguish between the various forms. |
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These include:
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ultrasound examination of the joints, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tomography of the joints
or of the spinal column, X-ray and less frequently other imaging procedures (e.g. CT, or bone scintigraphy)
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puncture of a joint and subsequent microscopic examination of the synovial fluid |
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special rheumatological blood analysis. |
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The medicamentous therapy and injections in the joint are central forms of therapy employed by the internal-medical rheumatologist. They are supplemented by physical measures (e.g. physiotherapy) and joint-protection measures (such as ergotherapy). The internal-medical rheumatologist treats his or her patients in close cooperation with family doctors (internists and general practitioners), orthopaedists, skin specialists, ophthalmologists, cardiologists and gastro-enterologists, as well as with physiotherapists and ergotherapists.
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