The result of modern pathological research, this book offers quickly accessible and clearly arranged information on the 29 most important diseases that belong to the complex of rheumatic diseases: It includes clinical features, helpful marginal notes, an extensive subject index, a comprehensive bibliography, and approximately 300 illustrations, most of which are light, electron, or scanning electron micrographs. The reader is presented with a useful basis for diagnostic considerations and therapeutic decisions. By intensively analysing disease processes and their stuctures and by integrating modern immunological and molecular biological knowledge, the author has succeeded in providing the different pathological entities with a more distinct profile. New results have been achieved, particularly in the fields of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Seronegative Spondarthritides, and Osteoarthritis.