Læknablaðið : fylgirit - 01.05.1978, Blaðsíða 18

and 42% in all patients. The frequency is highest
in ankylosing spondyiitis, Reiter's disease and
postinfectious arthritis, but it is also high in
patients with other joint diseases. So, the
clinical picture of arthritis in HLA B 27 positive
people is varying and the diagnostic value of
HLA-typing questionable.
The activity of the inflamniation as measured
by the ESR, was highest in patients with a HLA
B 27 disease and definite RA, and lowest in
patients with a non defined arthritis.
Rheumatoid factor was most often positive in
definite RA. One-tube Latex test was the most
sensitive test. Waaler-Rose test was positive
in 26% of all patients.
The prognosis seems to be good. Many
patients had a mild disease also at the beginning.
After one year half of the patients had no fimc-
tional disability or joint swelling. Only about
1C% of patients had developed a severe joint
disease during the first follow-up year. This
does not mean that the natural course of these
TABLE 1. FIRST CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS
• diseases is so favorable.
We have to remember that all the patients
received very effective treatment. It rather
means that it is possible to control and treat
inflammatory joint diseases, if the treatment is
effective and started early enough.
In the following paper Martti Nissila will teU,
which signs and symptoms best predicted the poor
prognosis after one year.
Three patients have died. One died in Wagner's
granulomatosis, one in myocardial infarct, and
one in suicide made by hydroxychloroquine tablets.
The patients are under a careful and regular
control, and therefore it wfll be interesting to
see, if by an early effective treatment and
rehabilitation of arthritis a decrease in frequency
of e.g. disability pensions can be achieved. The
project is going on, and we hope that in coming
years we could give you more and more inter-
esting results.
Thank you.
No of patients per cent
Rheumatoid arthritis 211 46
probable 62
definite 149
"HLA B 27 disease" 93 21
Ankylosing spondylitis 16 4
Reiter'*s disease 42 9
Reactive postinfectious arthritis 35 8
Arthritis psoriatica 11 2
Systemic connective tissue disease 8 2
Rheumatic fever 1
Sarcoidosis 5 1
Gout 7 2
Osteoarthrosis 6 1
Arthritis NUD 37 19
Others 28 6
Total 4 57 100
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