Coexisting rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis
Fallet, G.H.; Barnes, C.G.; Berry, H.; Mowat, A.G.; Roux, H.; Villiaumey, J.
Journal of Rheumatology 14(6): 1135-1138
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0315-162X PMID: 3437421 Document Number: 301541
Since the second publication by some of the present authors in which 10 patients with coexisting rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) were described, 7 new cases have been found. For accuracy, all cases of the original study still available were reexamined. Of the total of 17 cases, 13 were male and 4 female. All had positive tests for rheumatoid factor and 6 had subcutaneous nodules. The male predominance and the frequency of nodules are consistent with other publications. In addition, our study demonstrates the strong association of each of these 2 diseases with its genetic marker: the antigen HLA-DR4 was present in 8 of 12 cases tested and the antigen HLA-B27 was present in 16 of the 17 cases. The coexistence of these 2 classical rheumatological entities in the same patient appears to occur by chance and is probably often overlooked.