Frequency of Amyloidosis in Estonian Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Päi S, Helin H, lsomäki H. Frequency of Amyloidosis in Estonian Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Scand J Rheumatol 1993; 22: 248–249.

Occurence of secondary amyloidosis in hospitalized Estonian patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis was studied using subcutaneous fat aspiration biopsies. Only 47 out of 59 samples included fat, and amyloidosis deposits were found in 11 of these (23%). The high frequency of amyloidosis may be due to selection of the most severe cases in the hospital.

Key Words:

• rheumatoid arthritis
• amyloidosis
• fat biopsy