title: Progressive heart block in active rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: A 68-year-old woman presented with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and severe extra-articular manifestations. During the course of her treatment, her electrocardiogram (ECG) transformed from normal sinus rhythm to left bundle branch block and finally to complete heart block (CHB). Investigations ruled out an ischaemic event. A permanent pacemaker was inserted due to the symptoms of heart failure and she made an uneventful recovery. CHB in RA is probably a marker of severity of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Wrexham, UK.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Adhiyaman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oke
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006327:Heart Block / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D016896:Treatment Outcome