Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9899
ISSN: 2155-9899
Fatima Zahra Alaoui
University Hospital Ibn Rochd, Morocco
Keynote: J Clin Cell Immunol
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that primarily affects joints, it may result in deformed and painful joints which can lead to loss of function and RA affects between 0.5 and 1% of population. In Morocco, RA is the most frequent inflammatory rheumatism and affects young women, most commonly with high predominance of early erosions, which provoke deformities in a great number of patients with systemic features as rheumatoid nodules, amyloidosis and vasculitis are rare in our series. The aim of this study is to analyze clinical, epidemiological and evolutive features of RA in Morocco for a period of 33 years. 1400 cases of RA were observed in a period between 1981 and 2014. All patients fulfilled the ACR criteria 1987 and the new criteria of RA 2010; among 1400 cases of RA, female predominance was noted with sex ratio F/M=5/1. The mean age was 34.5 (25ΓΆΒ?Β? 54). All patients had hand and wrist involvement with respect to distal interphalangeal joints. DAS 28 (disease activity score) was 6.78 (5.6ΓΆΒ?Β?8.5). Deformities were present in 75% of cases and sedimentation rate was increased around: 78 mm. C-reactive protein (CRP) ΓΆΒ?Β?24 mg/l. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 58% of patients. Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies: (from 2009) were positive in 28% of cases; RA in Morocco is severe because of high predominance of structural destruction and deformities. It occurs in young people in comparison with literature.
Fatima Zahra Alaoui has speciality in Internal Medicine, Inflammatory Diseases, Auto Immune Disease and Uveitis. She is a Professor of Medicine in University Hospital Ibn Rochd, Casablanca, Morocco.
E-mail: lasaone2002@yahoo.fr