Addison's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

The association of rheumatoid arthritis and Addison's disease in the same patient is very rare. In the English literature three papers reporting single cases have been found, and reference was made in two of these to three French articles dealing with the same subject (Perera and Ragan, 1950; Caughey and McCoy, 1951; Ellman and Cudkowicz, 1952). In these cases the onset ofrheumatoid arthritis preceded the development of Addison's disease. Because of its rarity it is thought worthwhile to report another case which has been under our observation for 5 years. This man has rheumatoid spondylitis but no peripheral joint disease and, in fact, this form of rheumatoid disease occurring in association with Addison's disease has not previously been reported. Case Report