Rasker J J, Cosh J A
Ann Rheum Dis. 1981 Apr;40(2):115-20. doi: 10.1136/ard.40.2.115.
A series of 100 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), first seen in the early months of their disease, have now been followed up for 18 years, and 43 have died. Rheumatoid disease directly caused death in 9, and the disease or its treatment contributed to death in 7. These 16 patients were younger at onset and younger at death than the 27 in whom death was unrelated to RA. Of clinical features noted 1 year after the onset of RA a worse ARA grading and a worse functional capacity were already evident in those 16 patients. Conversely, the 57 still surviving had a better ARA grading and a better functional capacity after 1 year than those who died. The survivors were also significantly younger than the rest at the onset of RA. The death rate throughout the follow-up period was higher in the patients graded as 'classical' than those graded as 'definite' RA after 1 year of disease.
一组100例类风湿关节炎（RA）患者，在疾病早期最初就诊，现已随访18年，其中43例死亡。类风湿病直接导致9例死亡，疾病或其治疗促成7例死亡。这16例患者发病时和死亡时的年龄比另外27例死亡与RA无关的患者更小。在RA发病1年后记录的临床特征中，这16例患者的美国风湿病学会（ARA）分级更差，功能能力也更差。相反，57例仍存活的患者在1年后的ARA分级和功能能力比死亡的患者更好。幸存者在RA发病时的年龄也明显比其他人更小。在疾病1年后被评为“典型”的患者在整个随访期间的死亡率高于被评为“确诊”RA的患者。
