[The clinical manifestations and pathogenetic characteristics of skeletal muscle involvement in rheumatoid arthritis]

The state of skeletal muscles was subjected to a comprehensive study in 106 patients with verified rheumatoid arthritis. Kinesthetic, thermography, electromyography, tensometry and morphohistochemical methods were employed together with determination of serum activity of creatine phosphokinase. The muscular syndrome of the disease was characterized by the presence of foci of myofibrosis manifesting as local painful indurations of different size and consistency. It has been shown that one of the mechanisms of muscular injury in rheumatoid arthritis is the neural reflex one: under the influence of pathological impulses from the damaged joint there occur tonic and dystrophic alterations in the muscle, vasomotor dysfunctions and derangement of the neurotrophic control.