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Progressive heart block in active rheumatoid arthritis
1Department of Geriatric Medicine, Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Wrexham, UK.
International Journal of Clinical Practice
|February 24, 2001
Abstract:
A 68-year-old woman presented with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and severe extra-articular manifestations. During the course of her treatment, her electrocardiogram (ECG) transformed from normal sinus rhythm to left bundle branch block and finally to complete heart block (CHB). Investigations ruled out an ischaemic event. A permanent pacemaker was inserted due to the symptoms of heart failure and she made an uneventful recovery. CHB in RA is probably a marker of severity of the disease.