[Nephropathy in rheumatoid arthritis].

Occurrence of renal involvement in Rheumatoid arthritis is uncommon; when present it has been attributed to amyloid or secondary effects of drugs. Nevertheless, recent observations seem to indicate the existence of primary renal lesions associated with the disease. The purpose of this paper is to review the data suggesting that the kidney can be directly involved in Rheumatoid arthritis. The main points of interest are the occurrence of glomerulonephritis and/or amyloidosis, the presence of vasculitis and other arterial changes, the existence of chronic interstitial nephritis and papillary necrosis and lesions associated with gold and penicillamine therapy.