The Heart in Rheumatoid Arthritis (Rheumatoid Disease)
Authors: WALLACE B. LEBOWITZ
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1963)

Article1 January 1963The Heart in Rheumatoid Arthritis (Rheumatoid Disease)A Clinical and Pathological Study of Sixty-two CasesWALLACE B. LEBOWITZ, M.D.WALLACE B. LEBOWITZ, M.D.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-58-1-102 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe systemic nature of rheumatoid arthritis is emphasized by the occurrence of lesions in many tissues other than those of joints (1-3). The heart, in particular, is frequently involved (4-8), and 2 groups of lesions have been described in this organ. These are: [1] rheumatoid granulomata, and [2] non-specific inflammatory lesions. Little doubt exists about the rheumatoid etiology of the granulomata, but there has been disagreement as to the interpretation of the non-specific lesions. Although earlier writers tended to ascribe these lesions to rheumatic heart disease (6-8), more recent investigators have suggested that these lesions are manifestations of the rheumatoid...References1. SINCLAIRCRUICKSHANK RJB: A clinical and pathological study of 16 cases of rheumatoid arthritis with extensive visceral involvement (rheumatoid disease). Quart. J. Med. (new series) XXV: 313, 1956. Google Scholar2. BEVANSNADELLDEMARTINIRAGAN MJFC: Systemic lesions of malignant rheumatoid arthritis. Amer. J. Med. 16: 197, 1954. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. OGRYZLO MA: Diffuse systemic rheumatoid disease. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 13: 323, 1953. Google Scholar4. CRUICKSHANK B: Heart lesions in rheumatoid disease. J. Path. Bad. 76: 223, 1958. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. LEVINKAPLANMARCUSWEINBERGERPATTERSON MLSHJJ: The heart in rheumatoid arthritis. A clinical-pathological correlation of 43 autopsied patients. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 14: 430, 1955. Google Scholar6. 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Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Bridgeport, ConnecticutFrom the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory and the Second and Fourth (Harvard) Medical Services, Boston City Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.This work was supported in part by training grant HTS-5244 from the National Heart Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States Public Health Service.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Wallace B. Lebowitz, M.D., Cardiovascular Laboratory, St. Vincent's Hospital, Bridgeport, Connecticut. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byCardiovascular Diseases and RheumatologyEchocardiography in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cardiovascular ComplicationsIs There a Brain/Heart Interaction in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Seronegative Spondyloartropathies? 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