[Respective prevalences and frequencies of Horton's disease and rhizomelic pseudopolyarthritis. Epidemiological study in the Loire-Atlantic department using a general practice research network (RESOMED 44)].

Using a research network of general practitioners (Resomed 44) representing the 20th of all GP's in the Loire Atlantique region and distributed at random according to district, age and sex made it possible to evaluate the respective prevalences of temporal arteritis (TA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) in all the systemic immune diseases listed. Among these diseases, rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequent (35.39%). TA (18.8%) and PMR (18.54%) had about the same prevalence. For each of these diseases the year/physician prevalence was evaluated at 0.11, which means that the probability for each GP to see 1 TA and 1 RP at once in 10 years. At the time of the survey, 52.9% of TA patients and 78.8% of PMR patients were surviving. GP's alone follow up more TA's and PMR's than the other systemic immune diseases.