[Demographic and clinical features of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Piauí, Brazil--evaluation of 98 patients].

Introduction: Brazilian epidemiological studies on rheumatoid arthritis are scarce, mainly in the northeast; thus many data currently available originate from the international literature.

Objectives: To describe demographic, clinical and serological characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) followed-up by the same physician, in state of Piauí, Brazil.

Patients And Methods: Data were collected between August 2010 and March 2013, in three health services of Piauí that provided health care in Rheumatology: a university-affiliated hospital, a public outpatient clinic and a private clinic.

Male systemic lupus erythematosus, an overlooked diagnosis.

Lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of unknown cause that involves multiple systems. Autoimmune diseases that are prevalent in men usually manifest themselves clinically before the age of 50 years old and are characterized by an acute inflammation, whereas autoimmune diseases with predominance among women appear clinically in later stages of life, when chronic diseases, fibrosis and increased number of autoantibodies are present. Lupus erythematosus is more prevalent among women during the reproductive period, but the cause of this predilection is not fully established and little is known about the disease among men.

Interstitial cystitis and systemic lupus erythematosus in a 20-year-old woman.

A 20-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus presented with dysuria, urinary frequency and suprapubic pain and was found to have a chronic interstitial cystitis, a chronic inflammation of the bladder wall, mostly affecting middle-aged women. Chronic interstitial cystitis is an uncommon manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema in systemic sclerosis.

A 40-year-old woman with known systemic sclerosis presented with dyspnea. She had been treated for pneumonia, 2 months prior to the present admission and at this time presented with sudden dyspnea and was found to have a spontaneous pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. Pneumomediastinum is an extremely rare complication in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Epidemiological study of patients with connective tissue diseases in Brazil.

To study the prevalence of connective tissue disorders and identify the epidemiological profile of the population from the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil. All patients admitted to the general medical ward at Getulio Vargas Hospital were screened through history and physical examination for the existence of known, suspected or possible connective tissue disorder. A total of 120 patients were enrolled in the study - 61 (50.