Proportion of Peripheral Neuropathy in Newly Diagnosed Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Single Centre Retrospective Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are more prone to develop neurological dysfunction; thus, it is important to recognize peripheral neuropathy in them. Since there are very few studies to exhibit the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in newly diagnosed RA in Eastern part of India, our study will help to find out the proportion of peripheral neuropathy among newly diagnosed RA patients.
Material & Methods: Sixty patients who were newly diagnosed with RA classified by ACR/EULAR criteria for RA 2010 and who had a Nerve Conduction Study done within 3 months of diagnosis were randomly selected and a retrospective observational study was done to look for presence of peripheral neuropathy.
Results: 30% of study population had electrophysiologically detected peripheral neuropathy. Entrapment neuropathy was the most common type of neuropathy seen. Presence of neuropathy in RA patients is found to significantly increase with increase in DAS28 ESR score (Odd's ratio - 2.092). Disease duration and RF positivity also have association with neuropathic involvement.
Conclusion: It's observed that even in early RA a significant number of patients were found to have peripheral neuropathy. Early detection of high disease activity and its treatment accordingly, or prevention of escalation of disease activity can be helpful in preventing morbidity arising from neuropathy.