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Secondary amyloidosis has decreased in patients with inflammatory joint disease in Finland
K Laiho1, S Tiitinen, K Kaarela
1Rheumatism Foundation Hospital, Heinola, Finland.
Clinical Rheumatology
|June 5, 1999
Abstract:
We studied whether the high incidence of secondary amyloidosis (SA) is a consistent finding in patients with inflammatory joint disease. A total of 4508 biopsies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis were studied at the Rheumatism Foundation Hospital during 1987-1997. The results show that the annual number of findings of SA was reduced from 68 to less than 10. We suggest that a change in medication towards more frequent use of cytostatic agents is the reason for the reduction in incidence of SA.