We reported three patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who died from secondary amyloidosis.
Case 1 was a 65-year-old woman with RA who complained of diarrhea. Amyloidosis was diagnosed by colonic biopsy. The patient died from diarrhea and paralytic ileus.
Case 2 was a 55-year-old woman with RA who also had complications of amyloidosis. She received a weekly intravenous injection of 5mg methotrexate, four times. Following this she developed pancytopenia and a high fever. After recovering from this she developed diarrhea and paralytic ileus and died from renal failure.
Case 3 was a 56-year-old woman with RA who complained of quadriplegia. She developed gangrene and was diagnosed as having malignant rheumatoid arthritis. She developed paralytic ileus and died from perforation of the alimentary tract.
