[Polymyalgia rheumatica: a systemic vasculitis. Review of the literature and presentation of 2 clinical cases].

A brief historical account of the nosological and pathogenetic classification of rheumatic polymyalgia (RPM) is followed by an indication of the importance of vasculitis during its course. Elective involvement of the temporal artery is not always observed, though there may also, or exclusively, be involvement of other arterial districts, such as those of the subaxillary and subclavicular, that of the thoracic and abdominal aorta, and of the large branches of the lower limbs. Two clinical cases are presented in support of these assertions.