[Rheumatoid arthritis--a diffuse connective tissue disease]

The authors describe in a group of 100 patients, mostly with a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis, subjects with so-called "severe" extraarticular affections which can threaten the patients' lives or cause substantial deterioration of its quality, and those subjects where rheumatoid arthritis was the cause of death. These affections were associated--directly or indirectly--with the basic disease. From the absolute number of revealed affections the authors do not want to draw any conclusions as they are aware of various factors which could influence them. They assume, however, that the assembled data provide evidence that the American Rheumatological Association was right to include rheumatoid arthritis among diffuse connective tissue diseases and that it must be considered not only a disease of the locomotor apparatus but a potential disease of the organism as a whole.