title: Extra-articular manifestations are uncommon in southern Chinese with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by both articular and extra-articular manifestations. Few studies have addressed the prevalence of extra-articular manifestations in non-Caucasoid races. We have studied 153 Southern Chinese patients with RA and found that such features are uncommon when compared with previous reports in Caucasoids. The only extra-articular manifestations were rheumatoid nodules which were present in 4.6%, and episcleritis and cutaneous vasculitis in 0.7% each. A further 12.4% had mild sicca symptoms. These findings were in direct contrast with the severity of articular disease as 73% of patients had erosive disease which was graded as severe in 37%. The reason for the low prevalence of extra-articular manifestations is not known but may be due, in part, to the rarity of the HLA-DR4 subtype, HLA-Dw4 in the Southern Chinese population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006681:HLA-D Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012215:Rheumatic Nodule / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D015423:Scleritis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D018366:Vasculitis, Leukocytoclastic, Cutaneous / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D006681:HLA-D Antigens; C053495:HLA-Dw4 antigen