Cutaneous manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis
Keywords:
Cutaneous manifestations, Rheumatoid arthritis, RA, ACR, EULAR, autoimmune diseaseAbstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multisystem autoimmune disease, affecting the joints predominantly, and extra-articular sites like skin, lungs, heart etc. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) in 2010, revised the 1987 ACR classification criteria for RA. The criteria covered four areas (joint involvement, serodiagnosis, acute phase reactants, duration of arthritis) and established a point value on a scale of 0 to 10. Patients with a value of 6 or higher are classified as having RA.
Although there are a number of studies on each of these factors, there is a paucity of studies on the cutaneous manifestations in RA patients. The present study explores cutaneous manifestations in RF-positive patients (predominantly female) in their fourth decade of age. Drug-induced and other miscellaneous side effects accounted for majority of the lesions. A significant correlation of nevi and striae with RA has been observed in this population.
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