84404 - Rheumatology

Academic Year 2024/2025

  • Docente: Jacopo Ciaffi
  • Credits: 2
  • SSD: MED/16
  • Language: English
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Single cycle degree programme (LMCU) in Medicine and Surgery (cod. 9210)

Learning outcomes

Describe the clinical manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, risk factors, natural history, diagnosis, staging, prognostic indicators and management of the major rheumatologic diseases, with emphasis on those most commonly encountered in the clinical practice. Identify the major diagnostic and therapeutic options for each encountered clinical scenario, and discuss their benefits and limitations. Demonstrate an understanding of the overlap of rheumatology with other disciplines. Present and critically analyze clinical cases, discuss the differential diagnosis, and formulate appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for each case (Problem-Based Learning).

Course contents

  • Outline of anatomy, histology and physiology of the musculoskeletal system
  • Pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases
  • Semeiotics of inflammatory and non-inflammatory joint diseases
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Axial spondyloarthritis (SpA)
  • Peripheral spondyloarthritis (SpA)
  • Infectious arthritis
  • Crystal-induced arthritis (gout, CPPD)
  • Inflammatory myopathies
  • Polymyalgia rheumatica
  • Connective tissue diseases
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Osteoporosis
  • Vascular bone diseases
  • Paget's disease

Readings/Bibliography

EULAR Textbook on Rheumatic Diseases (3rd edition, 2018)

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures

Assessment methods

Verification of learning takes place through an oral test aimed at assessing the achievement of the educational objectives of the course.

Teaching tools

The didactic material (slides) presented during the lesson will be made available to students on the Virtual portal. In addition, the slides of the lessons are provided with a bibliography in the margin, in order to allow the student any further information.

Office hours

See the website of Jacopo Ciaffi