Rheumatoid arthritis, immune complex disease, and hypereosinophilic syndrome. Report on a case

A patient with typical rheumatoid arthritis is presented. After a short period of the disease a hyperosinophilic syndrome (HES) developed with vasculitis, pulmonary fibrosis, and thrombosis, and the disease took a malignant course. The patient died within a year after the diagnosis of HES. High titres of rheumatoid factor were manifested and total complement (CH50) was very low, indicating an active immune disease. As HES has been suggested to have an autoimmune aetiology, these findings are interesting, as positive rheumatoid serology has very rarely been reported in patients with this syndrome.