Rheumatoid Arthritis - B.Pharm (Semester II)

Rheumatoid Arthritis

1. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

2. Rheumatoidarthritis(RA)
•RA is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder
•Its most prominent manifestation is inflammatory arthritis of the
peripheral joints
•But its systemic manifestations include haematologic, pulmonary,
neurological and cardiovascular abnormalities.

3. Etiology
•Gender
•Women before the menopause are affected three times more often than
men
•Familial
•There is an increased incidence in those with a family history of RA.

4. Etiology
•Genetic factors
•Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 and HLA-DR1confer
susceptibility to RA and are associated with development of more
severe erosive disease.

5. Pathogenesis

9. Non-articular manifestations of RA
•Systemic –Fever, Fatigue, Weight loss
•Neurological-Carpaltunnel syndrome, Cord compression
•Haematological-Lymphadenopathy, Felty’ssyndrome (rheumatoid
arthritis, splenomegaly, neutropenia), Anaemia
•Pulmonary -Lung fibrosis, Rheumatoid nodules
•Heart and peripheral vessels –Pericarditis, Pericardial effusion
•Kidneys -Amyloidosis causes the nephroticsyndrome and renal
failure

10. DIAGNOSIS
•Blood count
•Anaemia, ESR and CRP
•Serum autoantibodies
•Rheumatoid factor
•X-ray
•Synovial fluid