[The value of individual laboratory tests in the evaluation of inflammatory activity in rheumatoid arthritis]

In 65 patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to ARA criteria, and the active disease, we studied the correlation of the clinical status (the number of the swollen and tender joints) with the following laboratory parameters: sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, serum iron level, haemoglobin content and the number of erythrocytes, leucocytes and thrombocytes in the peripheral blood. All patients received nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs; 25,5% of them were on small daily doses of corticosteroids, and most of them (76,5%) were receiving some of the second-line drugs. The acceleration of the sedimentation rate was the most useful laboratory parameter and was found in 96,9% of the patients, followed by an increased quantity of the alpha-2 globulin, sideropenia and a decreased level of haemoglobin. Increase in the CRP titer was found in this study to be of a rather modest value and was increased in only 40% of the RA patients.