Clinical significance of anti-Ro (SSA) antibody in rheumatoid arthritis
Boire, G.; Ménard, H.A.
Journal of Rheumatology 15(3): 391-394
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0315-162X PMID: 3259983 Document Number: 321609
A group of 12 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with anti-Ro antibody were compared to an age and sex matched group with RA. Both had similar articular manifestations but the anti-Ro positive patients had more severe extraarticular as well as serological abnormalities. Vasculitis, liver abnormalities, neutropenia and circulating immune complexes were prominent while sicca features were not. Treatment with remission inducing drugs failed frequently without increased toxicity. Two patients with classical RA with anti-Ro developed subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus and anti-dsDNA. Our observations suggest that the presence of anti-Ro in RA sera may be a marker for a small but significant subset of rheumatoid disease.