ABSTRACT
RHEUMATOLOGY AND RHEUMATIC CONDITIONS – OVERVIEW Rheumatology is an internal medicine and pediatric subspecialty focused on the diagnosis and management of diseases affecting primarily the joints and surrounding soft tissues. Rheumatic conditions are composed of arthritis and its allied connective tissue diseases. The term ‘arthritis’ is derived from the Greek ‘arthro’ (meaning joint) and ‘-itis’ (meaning inflam mation). There are currently more than 100 discrete forms of arthritis recognized, the most common being osteoarthritis (OA). Arthritis is often categorized by its distribution (monoarticular vs. polyarticular); its association with detectable autoantibody (seropositive vs. seronegative); or the degree of underlying inflammation involved (inflammatory vs. noninflammatory. (The latter is a misnomer since nearly all forms of arthritis are characterized by at least low-grade inflammation).
