Technical Report No. 15-86
Rheumatoid arthritis in atomic bomb survivors; a follow-up study
Kawamoto S, Kato H, Duff IF, Nakata H, Tanaka K, Hamilton HB, Russell WJSummary
During a two-year period from 1967 to 1969, 420 subjects who were diagnosed from 1966 to 1967 as having definite or probable rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were reexamined for the progress of their disease. By 1969, 43 (10.2%) of the 420 were deceased. Twenty of these deaths were in the definite and 6 of them were in the probable categories. By the time the present study was to begin, 15 persons had moved out of the cities and 19 subjects refused follow-up examinations.
The diagnosis of definite RA was reconfirmed for 61 persons during the present study. Among the 264 persons who were previously diagnosed as having possible or questionable RA, 5 had become definite, 8 had become probable, and 118 (44.7%) had no evidence of RA whatsoever. There was no difference in disease progress by age or sex. Nor was there a difference in the rate of conversion of rheumatoid factors or rate of increase in antibody titers, according to the groups categorized by disease progression.
The RA of relatively few subjects had progressed, and according to the hand and wrist radiographs, there was greater progress of RA among those under 60 as compared to those over 60 years of age.
During a two-year period from 1967 to 1969, 420 subjects who were diagnosed from 1966 to 1967 as having definite or probable rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were reexamined for the progress of their disease. By 1969, 43 (10.2%) of the 420 were deceased. Twenty of these deaths were in the definite and 6 of them were in the probable categories. By the time the present study was to begin, 15 persons had moved out of the cities and 19 subjects refused follow-up examinations.
The diagnosis of definite RA was reconfirmed for 61 persons during the present study. Among the 264 persons who were previously diagnosed as having possible or questionable RA, 5 had become definite, 8 had become probable, and 118 (44.7%) had no evidence of RA whatsoever. There was no difference in disease progress by age or sex. Nor was there a difference in the rate of conversion of rheumatoid factors or rate of increase in antibody titers, according to the groups categorized by disease progression.
The RA of relatively few subjects had progressed, and according to the hand and wrist radiographs, there was greater progress of RA among those under 60 as compared to those over 60 years of age.