Classification Criteria and Clinical Practice Guidelines for Rheumatic Diseases

AbstractRheumatic diseases have many classification criteria and management guidelines that are continuously being updated in order to improve the quality of healthcare provision. With these ever-evolving criteria and guidelines, practicing clinicians need an easy way to get to the core of these updates and to retain them in an easy and memorable way. Classification criteria are meant to differentiate between similar diseases and also to confirm or rule out a certain disease based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The diagnosis of rheumatic diseases can be challenging since many clinical signs and symptoms as well as many laboratory markers are not specific and can be positive in many diseases.