<unk>  is a constellation of symptoms that can be caused by many other conditions. Since there is no definitive diagnostic test, other conditions have to be ruled out before this rare condition can be diagnosed. The main differential diagnosis is polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), although pain, stiffness and weakness at the level of the shoulders and pelvic girdle with associated systemic symptoms (fever, malaise, fatigue, weight loss) is more typical of PMR. Prospective studies have found a subgroup of PMR patients with hand<unk> , as well as other similarities. Thus,<unk>  has been proposed as a condition related to PMR or even that they are both part of the same disorder. However, PMR typically requires protracted courses of steroids, whereas corticosteroids can be tapered more quickly with persisting remission in<unk> . Other rheumatological disorders that can cause the features typical for<unk>  include late onset<unk>  rheumatoid arthritis, acute sarcoidosis, ankylosing spondylitis and other spondyloarthropathies such as psoriatic arthropathy, mixed connective tissue disease, chondrocalcinosis and arthropathy due to amyloidosis.<unk>  has been documented in patients with cancers (Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer and bladder cancer, among others), in whom it might represent a paraneoplastic manifestation. Other underlying disorders include vasculitides such as polyarteritis nodosa. Other causes of<unk>  include heart failure, hypoalbuminemia, nephrotic syndrome and venous stasis. The key distinguishing feature is that these conditions don't tend to manifest with<unk><unk>  at the back of the hands.
Remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting edema
Interstitial granulomatous dermatitis with arthritis
Proliferative fasciitis and proliferative myositis
Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis
Photosensitivity with HIV infection
Blistering distal dactylitis
Pruritic papular eruption of HIV disease
Neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis