"Pseudotrochanteric bursitis": the differential diagnosis of lateral hip pain.

Eighteen patients who were initially diagnosed as having trochanteric bursitis refractory to conventional therapy are reported. The most common causes of pseudotrochanteric bursitis were lumbar radiculopathy (L2, L3), lumbar facet syndrome with pain referred to the lateral thigh, and entrapment neuropathies involving the subcostal, and the lateral cutaneous branches of the iliohypogastric nerves. Less common causes were undisplaced femoral neck fracture, adiposa dolorosa, and hip abductor muscle strain.

Sacrococcygeal pain syndromes: diagnosis and treatment.

Sacrococcygeal pain can arise from the sacrococcygeal joint, from contiguous structures sharing the same innervation, or from distant sites. True coccygodynia consists of pain arising from the sacrococcygeal joint, whereas pseudococcygodynia consists of pain referred to but not arising from the coccyx. Coccygodnia can usually be distinguished from pseudococcygodynia by physical examination with the diagnosis being confirmed by injection of local anesthetic into the sacrococcygeal joint.

Liquid crystal thermography. A new tool for evaluating low back pain.

Liquid crystal thermography was used to determine low back skin temperature patterns in 62 patients hospitalized for low back pain and 22 college volunteers with no previous history of back pain. The patients were separated into four groups according to their diagnoses at discharge: patients with 1) degenerative discogenic lesions, 2) acquired lesions, 3) congenital and developmental lesions, 4) back pain resulting from unknown causes. No significant differences were found between the average equilibrated thermogram temperatures of the control subjects (32.

Immune complexes in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison of four methods.

Fifty-three children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) were tested for immune complexes (IC) by 4 different methods, Clq solid-phase assay (ClqSPA), 2% polyethylene glycol precipitation assay (PEGPA), Raji cell assay (RCA), and the conglutinin assay (KA). Seventy-nine % of JRA patients demonstrated elevated IC levels by at least 1 method. Fifty-eight % of the JRA patients have elevated levels of IC by ClqSPA, 50% by the RCA, 37% by the KA, but 0% by the PEGPA.