Clinical and immunological features of early rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective. To study clinical and immunological features of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) early stage. Material and Methods. 130 RA pts aged 16 to 80 years (mean age 52,5 years, 105 female and 25 male) were examined. 55 pts had disease duration up to 1 year, 34 - between 1 and 3 years and 41 - more than 3 years. Standard clinical, laboratory and radiological examination was performed in all pts. In 43 pts with earlv RA T and В cell receptors were studied with monoclonal antibodies against CD3, CD72, CD4, CD8, CDI6. Results. The most frequent initial symptoms preceding characteristic RA picture were arthralgia (39,2%), fever (34,6%) and body weight loss (24,6%). Mono- or oligoarticuiar onset with subsequent quick transformation into polyarthritis within one year revealed in 61,5% of pts was the usual feature of early RA. The most frequent false diagnoses in early RA were osteoarthritis (in 25,1%), reactive arthritis (in 24,9%) and gout (in 4,6%). Male pts had longer morning stiffness, higher levels of C-reactive protein, more pronounced functional disability, T and В cell immunity activation than female. Conclusion. Understanding of essential clinical and immunologic features of early RA will allow to diagnose the disease in time.

Keywords

• early rheumatoid arthritis
• diagnosis