Hematological manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To inform clinical rheumatologists about the common and rarer hematological manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis with an emphasis on diagnosis and therapy and a particular reference to Felty's syndrome.


METHODS
Literature review.


RESULTS
The hematological manifestations can be conveniently categorized into the broad areas of; anemia, particularly NSAID induced iron deficiency anemia and the anemia of chronic disease, neutropenia, particularly Felty's syndrome and the large granular lymphocyte syndrome and drug induced neutropenia; thrombocytopenia, particularly autoimmune and drug induced thrombocytopenia; and hematological malignancy. Rarer conditions, their diagnosis and therapy are also described in this review.


CONCLUSIONS
Hematological manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis are very common. A logical approach using easily available tests should allow straightforward decisions about diagnosis and therapy to be made, even in patients with some of the rarer manifestations.
Bowman
S J
SJ
Rheumatology Department, Division of Immunity and Infection, The Medical School, University of Birmingham, UK. s.j.bowman@bham.ac.uk
D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D001791:Blood Platelet Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D005258:Felty Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000209:etiology