[Do the severity and duration of rheumatoid arthritis influence pulmonary ventilation?]

Pulmonary ventilation was studied in 100 patients with rheumatoid arthritis of an outpatient clinic, using whole-body plethysmography, spirography, and pneumometry. The patients with more or less severe joint involvement, as well as the patients with shorter or longer duration of their disease, did not show any significant difference in their dynamic and static pulmonary fuction. Patients with serious joint destructions showed a bronchial obstruction in 29%. 36 patients who were treated with thioglucose gold had a significantly better expiration capacity. A causal connection with the underlying disease is discussed. Further examinations should take therapeutic procedures and longitudinal studies into consideration. It is doubtful that significant restriction of ventilation is present in rheumatoid-arthritis. Methodically there was a good argreement between whole body plethysmography and pneumometry.