I thank Dr González for providing comments on the historical review of polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. Whether polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis are manifestations of 1 disease or 2 linked entities was not satisfactorily answered by 1970, at which time the article ended its story, and has still not been answered. Most investigators now recognize that the 2 syndromes are closely linked processes, but why they may occur separately or together simultaneously or in tandem is unknown. The answer, when it becomes known, is likely to be complex and dependent on multiple factors. Regarding the certainty that vasculitis is absent at a given time in a patient with symptoms of polymyalgia rheumatica or giant cell arteritis if a temporal artery biopsy and imaging tests yield negative results is also unknown. One difficulty is that, even with an improved understanding of these conditions as a result of recent elegant studies of their pathophysiology and the development of new imaging techniques, there is no way to examine the entire arterial tree to detect early arteritis involving a limited segment. Fortunately, while we await further advances, enough information about the clinical characteristics of these conditions has been gained during the past decades to help clinicians establish an early diagnosis and make decisions about therapy that will relieve patients' musculoskeletal symptoms and prevent most vascular complications from the arteritis.1Salvarani C Cantini F Boiardi L Hunder GG Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant-cell arteritis.N Engl J Med. 2002; 347: 261-271Crossref PubMed Scopus (616) Google Scholar, 2Younge BR Cook Jr, BE Bartley GB Hodge DO Hunder GG Initiation of glucocorticoid therapy: before or after temporal artery biopsy?.Mayo Clin Proc. 2004; 79: 483-491Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (91) Google Scholar Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia RheumaticaMayo Clinic ProceedingsVol. 82Issue 1PreviewTo the Editor: The excellent historical review on giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica by Hunder1 reminded me of the difficulties in deciding whether both conditions are 1 or 2 clinical entities. Full-Text PDF