PERICARDIAL AND PULMONARY INVOLVEMENT IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS IN TURKEY

Pericardial and lung involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), suspect ed to be less severe in a developing nation (Turkey), have been evalua ted. We have studied clinical, echocardiographic and pulmonary finding s (radiological and functional) in 93 consecutive Turkish patients wit h definite/classical RA. Findings were compared with those or a group of patients with osteoarthritis or local rheumatological conditions (n = 60) in a blind protocol. Fifty patients with systemic lupus (SLE) w ere studied as a high risk control group for pericardial involvement. While pericardial disease was detected in 5.5% (5/90) of RA patients, it was detected in 6.6% (4/60) of the control patients. SLE patients h ad a 26% (13/50) prevalence. Interstitial lung disease was found in 27 .7% of RA patients but it was present in 6.6% (4/60) of the control pa tients. We observed that a group of patients with RA in Turkey had a l ow prevalence of pericardial disease. This is further evidence that RA has a mild course in developing countries.