THE SPECIFIC FEATURES OF THE «NATIVE COURSE»OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS ACCORDING TO THE DATA OF AN INPATIENT REGISTRY

Abstract

Objective: to study the specific features of the «native course» of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in real clinical practice (according to the data of an inpatient registry).
Subjects and methods. The inpatient registry (642 patients with RA verified according to the 1987 ACR criteria) was used to identify a group of 80 (12.5%) subjects who had been first admitted to the Rheumatology Unit, Voronezh Regional Clinical Hospital One, to undergo examinations and who had received no disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) throughout the disease before being included into the registry. The patients were conventionally called a group of the native course of RA and examined by 70 items involving sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and functional variables.
Results. In the native-course group, the activity of an inflammatory process, the progression of X-ray changes, and functional class were significantly higher than those in the group of PA patients receiving DMARDs.
Conclusion. The findings indicate that the early use of DMARDs, continuity and effective monitoring of the course of RA at all stages of medical care are important goals of clinical rheumatology.