Anti- CCP antibody has recently gained much interest as a marker for early detection and prediction of severe articular and extraarticular disease in rheumatoid arthritis. To evaluate this in patients with active rheumatoid disease and lung involvement, we studied 40 rheumatoid arthritis patients With active disease: 10 patients (6 males and 4 females) have chronic disease with joint effusion but no extra articular affection, 13 chronic patients (5 males and 8 females) with joint effusions and evidence of lung fibrosis, 9 chronic patients (4 males and 5 females) with both joint and pleural effusions but-no evidence of lung fibrosis • and 8 patients (4 males and 4 females) with relatively recent onset disease with only joint inflammation without effusion plus 8 - normal rontrol subjects. Blood anti- CCP • was found to be significantly much elevated in all patient groups than controls (p<0.00 I for all) and in patients with lung disease than those without (p < 0.001 for both) with highest levels seen in patients with lung fibrosis. In patients without lung disease, levels were slightly (but significantly) higher in those with joint effusion than in those without (p <0.01). Joint and pleural |
