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EC Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine

Research Article Volume 15 Issue 5 - 2026

Diagnostic Pitfalls of Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Postmortem Clinicopathologic Study of 161 Autopsy Patients

Ágnes Apáthy1 and Miklós Bély 2*

1Department of Rheumatology, St. Margaret Clinic, Budapest, Hungary
2Department of Pathology, Hospital of the Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God in Budapest, Hungary

*Corresponding Author: Miklós Bély, Department of Pathology, Hospital of the Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God in Budapest, Hungary.
Received: April 16, 2026; Published: April 29, 2026



Over the last decades the number of autopsies has drastically been reduced. Due to lack of verification, the true number of clinical errors, misdiagnosed and unrecognized cases may remain hidden. This study focuses on those complications or comorbidities of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), where there was a significant difference between the incidence of the most important complications or comorbidities and the number of clinically recognized cases. AA amyloidosis (AAa) was the most common complication of RA, while autoimmune vasculitis (AV) was the second most common, and acute bacterial septic infection (AbSI) the third one. The most dangerous (and most commonly overlooked) complication of RA was AV, including fatal undiagnosed cases. Detection of dormant tuberculosis (TB) or acute flare ups is really a great challenge for the rheumatologist, based on the clinically recognized and missed cases.

Keywords: Rheumatoid Arthritis; Autoimmune Vasculitis; AA Amyloidosis; Acute Bacterial Septic Infection; Purulent Arthritis; Tuberculosis; Missed Diagnosis

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Ágnes Apáthy and Miklós Bély. “Diagnostic Pitfalls of Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Postmortem Clinicopathologic Study of 161 Au- topsy Patients”. EC Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine 15.5 (2026): 01-18.

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