title: Rheumatoid vasculitis: early presentation of rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Rheumatoid vasculitis is a rare and late complication of rheumatoid arthritis and may affect small-to-medium-sized vessels. Here, we report a case of a 49-year-old man who presented with amaurosis fugax in the left eye, symmetric polyarthritis, Raynaud's symptoms and paraesthesia in both lower extremities. The patient subsequently experienced right foot drop, nail fold infracts and gangrene of his right second toe. He was found to have a high titre of rheumatoid factor and treatment with rituximab and high dose of corticosteroids led to significant improvement of his symptoms. This is rare case describing the early onset of rheumatoid vasculitis in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Maricopa Integrated Health System, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Yasir
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Abdulqader
authors.affiliation: Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Muhsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Ani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Maricopa Medical Center and University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Parperis
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D011928:Raynaud Disease / Q000209:etiology; D056653:Rheumatoid Vasculitis / Q000209:etiology*