Renal findings in rheumatoid arthritis: clinical aspects of 132 necropsies

Renal abnormalities in 132 necropsied patients with rheumatoid arthritis were studied. Clinical findings before death included extra-articular manifestations of the disease (86% of patients), systemic vasculitis (6%), and uraemia (23%). Necropsy findings included nephrosclerosis (90%), systemic vasculitis (14%) with kidney involvement in 8%, amyloidosis (11%), membranous glomerulopathy (8%), and focal glomerular disease (8%). Association with clinical data suggests that both rheumatoid and non-rheumatoid disease may play a part in the cause of these abnormalities.