Discovering Rheumatoid Arthritis During Pregnancy

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune mechanism disease that preferentially affects women. Remission from rheumatoid arthritis has often been associated with pregnancy.
 A 29-year-old woman presented with symmetrical inflammatory polyarthralgias of the large and small joints with morning stiffness estimated at 5 hours, and the Visual Analogue Scale at 80/100 associated with the joint swelling onset 12th week of amenorrhea. She has no medical history, third pregnancy, and no fetal loss has been reported. The physical examination of the day objectified five painful joints and two swollen joints. Disease activity was moderate. There was a biological inflammatory syndrome with a C-Reactive Protein (CRP) at 37.9 mg. Rheumatoid factor was positive at 214 IU (Standard <14 IU), anti-citrullinated peptides antibodies at 99.6 IU (Standard <17 IU).
 The pregnancy revealed rheumatoid arthritis positive to rheumatoid factor and citrullinated cyclic anti-peptide antibodies.