title: Development of rheumatoid arthritis in a patient with pernicious anemia: case report.
abstract: Very few cases of rheumatoid arthritis combined with pernicious anemia have been reported in the world literature and none in the Chinese literature. A 62-year-old female initially presented with anemia. Pernicious anemia was diagnosed by characteristic blood and bone marrow morphology. Laboratory data showed a deficiency of vitamin B12 and positive anti-gastric parietal cell antibodies. Her anemia improved after vitamin B12 therapy. Painful swelling of multiple joints developed 6 years later. The clinical presentation supported a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. We report herein a rare case of rheumatoid arthritis and pernicious anemia in the same ethnic Chinese patient. We also review the literature and discuss a possible association between a non-organ-specific autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and an organ-specific autoimmune disease, pernicious anemia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 5 Fu-Shin Street, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Liou
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D000752:Anemia, Pernicious / Q000150:complications*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000209:etiology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity