The Journal of the Korean Rheumatism Association  2003;10(2):200-205

A Case of Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis with Idiopathic Hypereosinophilic Syndrome.

Jung Hyeon CHOI 1 ; Jae Wook JUNG ; Hyun Ju SONG ; Kyoung Eun SONG ; Jeong Hee CHOI ; Yu Jin SUH ; Hae Sim PARK ; Chang Hee SUH

Affiliations

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Keywords

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome; Seronegative rheumatoid arthritis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

The idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is a disorder marked by the sustained overproduction of eosinophils. The disease is characterized by damage of multiple organ including heart, nerve system, skin and lung due to eosinophilic infiltration and the diagnosis is one of exclusion. Rheumatologic manifestations of HES are infrequent. In about 10~40% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, persistent eosinophilia is observed. That can be due to the RA itself and is often associated with active disease and extra-articular features. Sometimes, it is attributed to the drug therapy, especially gold and penicillamine. We would like to report a 37-year-old female patient with HES who developed seronegative RA 2 years later.