Abstract
We describe a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had preceding evidence of post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis. The patient showed positive serological tests for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody. The manifestations of RA, including progressive polyarthritis and positive serum rheumatoid factors, emerged after the ameriolation of hepatitis and persisted for more than 3 years, indicating that the polyarthritis in this patient was not the prodrome of the hepatitis. This patient had HLA-DR4 and HLA-Bw54 which are found to be strongly associated with RA in Japan. It is therefore suggested that HCV may trigger the development of RA especially in genetically susceptible individuals.
(Internal Medicine 31 : 493-495, 1992)
