Zeitschrift für Vaskulitis

Systemic Rheumatoid and Septic Vasculitis: A Comparative Postmortem Study of 161 Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Abstract

Miklós Bély and Ágnes Apáthy

Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize the rheumatoid (RV) and Septic Vasculitis (SV) histologically in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Patients and Methods: RA was confirmed clinically according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Postmortem twelve organs of 161 RA patients were studied microscopically. Lethal septic infections were determined at autopsy and analyzed retrospectively, reviewing the clinical and pathological reports. The RV or SV was confirmed histologically. Demographics of different patient cohorts were compared with the Student t-probe. The possible role of SI on the prevalence of RV and SV was analyzed with chi-squared (χ2) test.

Results and Conclusion: RA was complicated by systemic RV in 33 (20.49%) of 161 patients. Lethal septic infection was observed in 24 (14.91%) of 161 patients accompanied in 3 (12.5% of 24, 1.86% of 161) patients by SV. RV complicated RA in both sexes, and at any time in the course of the disease, elderly (especially female) patients were more likely to be affected by RV than younger or male patients. Septic complications of RA reduced life expectancy and were strongly expressed in female patients with SV. RV and SV are most likely to be distinguished histologically.