The Rheumatic Hand

Many rheumatic diseases cause changes that are visible in the hands. This book provides an overview of the most common rheumatic diseases with a focus on their hand manifestations and includes the following topics: Epidemiology, Etiology and Pathogenesis; Hand Manifestations; Further Clinical Manifestations; and the Diagnosis and Therapy of Each Disease. The rheumatic diseases addressed are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease, psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, systemic sclerosis and dermatomyositis/polymyositis.
The non-rheumatic diseases included are diabetic cheiroarthropathy, endocarditis, secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy and chronic regional pain syndrome. The roles of clinical evaluation, X-ray, MRI and high-resolution ultrasonographic images are also discussed.

Diego Kyburz is the chief of the rheumatology departement of the university hospital of Basel, Switzerland. He is the leading swiss expert in rheumatoid arthritis and has an international reputation as researcher on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. He has been invited to give lectures at international meetings in the US and Europe.