[Rheumatoid polyarthritis and interstitial cystopathy]

The authors report a case of interstitial cystitis occurring in association with very active rheumatoid arthritis. Although the association of immune disorders and rheumatoid arthritis is well known, cases of concomitant vesical lesions have only been reported exceptionally. The diagnosis of interstitial cystitis is based on histology and immunofluorescence studies. The pathogenetic hypothesis remains uncertain: is this a primary bladder disease or a systemic auto-immune disease with a urinary tract expression? The success of immunosuppressant treatment in this case of cystitis is in favour of the second hypothesis.