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U.C.L.A. Rheumatology Pathophysiology of Disease Course Lecture, |
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Page 17 |
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| Male patients are more prone to such complications than female. Pericarditis may be asymptomatic or cause chest pain. Rheumatoid nodules in the lung parenchyma and pleural effusions are usually asymptomatic and are sometimes found incidentally with a routine chest X-ray. Progressive fibrosis of the lung is a rare complication which causes severe shortness of breath and ultimately death from pulmonary insufficiency. Peripheral nerves may be damaged either by being trapped and compressed near a swollen joint as in carpal tunnel syndrome (which causes numbness, tingling, and weakness of the hand) or by a low grade inflammatory process which results in a symmetrical peripheral neuritis. Rarely the spleen enlarges in long-standing RA of 15 years duration; this is accompanied by leukopenia with a selective neutropenia and the patient may get recurrent leg infections with non-healing ulcers. This condition is called Felty's Syndrome. | |||||||||||||||||||
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