The advent of new medications and new treatment strategies for rheumatoid arthritis has made it possible to achieve remission in more patients than before. Furthermore, recent clinical trials and register studies suggest that some patients who initially required aggressive therapy may achieve biologic-free remission or even the ultimate goal of therapy, drug-free remission, resembling recovery....

OBJECTIVE To study whether formal education and occupational class are associated with incidence of rheumatoid arthritis overall and with the incidence of the two major subgroups of rheumatoid arthritis-seropositive (RF+) and seronegative (RF-) disease. METHODS 930 cases and 1126 controls participated in a population based case-control study using incident cases of rheumatoid arthritis, carri...

A patient with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis and a carrier of hepatitis B surface antigen developed angiofollicular hyperplasia (multicentric Castleman's disease). The hepatitis B virus and the rheumatoid factor may have had a role in the aetiology of this lymphatic disorder. The development of Castleman's disease in association with these factors may provide another clue supporting the rea...

The current knowledge of the immunologic and etiologic factors which play a role in rheumatoid arthritis is reviewed and extrapolated to the systemic effects of rheumatoid disease. The disease process is viewed as the incidental result of an atypical immuno-inflammatory mechanism initiated by an unidentified antigenic stimulus.

There is an increasing number of rheumatoid patients who get septic arthritis. Chronic use of steroids is one of the important predisposing factors. The clinical picture of septic arthritis is different in immunocompromised patients like patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The diagnosis and management are discussed in this review article.

A 62 year old man with no relevant previous history presented with a nephrotic syndrome. Renal biopsy showed a membranous glomerulopathy and coincident investigation showed high serum titres of rheumatoid factors. It was not until some months later that he developed articular and extra-articular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease characterized by pronounced inflammatory and destructive changes in joints, causing pain, reduction of functions and motor skills of patients [1]. Multidisciplinary approach to patients with rheumatoid arthritis takes into account the complex interaction of somatic and psychological factors and opens up new vistas in understanding the mental and motoric fu...

The clinical value of enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) assays for IgM and IgG rheumatoid factors was assessed in a series of studies using rabbit IgG as antigen. The tests were reproducible with intra-assay coefficients of variation of 6% and could be simply and rapidly performed. Normal ranges were established using 106 sera from healthy controls. In a cross sectional study of 208 rh...

IgA and IgM rheumatoid factors as well as antibodies to Ro and La were measured in 37 patients with the sicca syndrome and 9 patients with Sjögren's syndrome secondary to rheumatoid arthritis. Positive results were found in 84% (IgA rheumatoid factor), 76% (IgM rheumatoid factor), 62% (Ro), and 50% (La) of patients with the sicca syndrome. There was no significant difference in the frequency of...