OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency, demographic characteristics, associated co- morbidities and extraarticular manifestations in @entity1 with @entity309 ( @entity309 ) visiting the rheumatology clinic at a tertiary care hospital, Karachi. METHOD: A retrospective medical chart review of 4900 @entity1 , who visited the rheumatology clinic at Liaquat National Hospital, from January 2005 to June 2007, was conducted. All @entity1 with @entity309 , of both gender and ages 16 years and above, who fulfilled the 1987 ACR criteria were included. Demographic characteristics, base line co-morbidity and extra-articular manifestations were recorded according to pre-defined criteria. RESULT: Among 4900 @entity1 , 633 (12.9%) visited the rheumatology clinic with @entity309 , female to male ratio being 4:1. The mean age of onset was 38.5 +/- 12.4 years in females and 44.8 +/- 13.12 years in males. Among the age group 16-29 years females were more affected, whereas greater number of males presented between 50-75 years of age. Co-morbidities were found in 35.38% of @entity309 @entity1 . @entity65 including @entity101 (13.79%) and @entity299 (6.6%) were the most common co-morbidities. @entity309 factor was positive in 85.05% of the @entity1 with @entity101 and 88.09% of the @entity1 with @entity299 . Extra-articular manifestations were reported in 3.47% of @entity1 . @entity401 (1.57%) was the most common extra-articular manifestation. CONCLUSION: Significant proportion of @entity1 with female predominance visited the rheumatology clinic at a tertiary care hospital due to @entity309 . Rheumatoid factor may predict the risk of developing @entity65 in @entity1 with @entity309 . The frequency of extra-articular manifestation was lower than that reported in western population.

Epidemiology of XXXX in a tertiary care unit, Karachi, Pakistan.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity101 :: ('MESH:D006973', 'Disease') :: ['hypertension'] @entity65 :: ('MESH:D002318', 'Disease') :: ['Cardiovascular disease', 'cardiovascular disease'] @entity299 :: ('MESH:D006331', 'Disease') :: ['ischaemic heart disease'] @entity401 :: ('MESH:D017563', 'Disease') :: ['Interstitial lung disease'] @entity309 :: ('MESH:D001172', 'Disease') :: ['rheumatoid arthritis', 'RA']
@entity309 :: (MESH:D001172,Disease) :: ['rheumatoid arthritis']
