A possible association of rheumatoid arthritis and sarcoidosis

Abstract

There are eight previous reports of sarcoidosis developing in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Reported here are two patients with rheumatoid arthritis who developed sarcoidosis. Both patients have HLA antigen DR4 and Sjogren's syndrome. Only stage II chest roentgenogram abnormalities previously have been described in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who developed sarcoidosis. This report demonstrates that these patients may present with stage III sarcoidosis. The prevalence of sarcoidosis in this clinic population is two per 263 as compared with 20 to 80 per 100,000 in the general population. This may indicate a previously unappreciated increased prevalence of sarcoidosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.