Fibromyalgia — SCE Rheumatology MCQ

Instant feedback + full explanation. One question, done properly.

EasyOsteoarthritis and soft tissue rheumatologyFibromyalgiaSCE Rheumatology

A 42-year-old woman has widespread pain, unrefreshing sleep and cognitive symptoms. Examination shows examination shows diffuse tenderness without synovitis. Investigations show ESR, CRP and CK are normal. The admitting team asks which diagnosis best explains the whole presentation. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

Reveal the answer and explanation

Correct answer: A — Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is the best answer because the pattern described is most consistent with Fibromyalgia, including the distribution of symptoms and the targeted investigation results. Antiphospholipid syndrome is a plausible distractor, but it does not account for the key discriminator in the stem. Adhesive capsulitis and Giant cell arteritis would be more appropriate in a different clinical pattern or at another point in the pathway, while Psoriatic arthritis is suboptimal for this presentation. Clinical pearl: in SCE-style questions, the decisive clue is usually the pattern across joints, extra-articular features and targeted immunology rather than a single antibody result.

Reference: NICE NG226; NICE CKS musculoskeletal topics