[Crystal-induced arthritides]

Crystal-induced arthritides are problems the general practitioner is often confronted with. Most patients present themselves more with acute than with chronic inflammatory joint diseases. However, secondary osteoarthritis is a frequent cause of disability in chronic disease. Problems of differential diagnosis arise because of constitutive symptoms such as fever and malaise in acute states of the disease and require exclusion of bacterial infection and of other systemic rheumatic diseases. This minireview will cover the clinical presentation and differential diagnosis of as well as the therapeutic approaches to the most frequent forms of crystal-induced arthritides.