Abstract

RODRIGUEZ TORRES, Karen Aracely; PALACIOS CORONEL, Julio César  and  ORTEGA FILARTIGA, Edgar. Clinical characteristics and treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis at the Ñemby District Hospital, 2024. Rev. cient. cienc. salud [online]. 2025, vol.7, e7124.  Epub Dec 30, 2025. ISSN 2664-2891.  https://doi.org/10.53732/rccsalud/2025.e7124.

Introduction. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that mostly affects women. Objective. To determine the clinical characteristics and treatment of patients with RA at the Ñemby District Hospital in 2024. Materials and Methods. An observational, descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted including 300 patients over 18 years of age diagnosed with RA according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria. Results. The mean age of the population was 51 years, with a predominance of females 78.67%. The most common type of joint involvement was oligoarticular in 72%, with the hands being the most affected; The time from symptom onset to diagnosis was approximately 11.27 months. Rheumatoid Factor was positive in 83.67% cases, while Anti-CCP showed a positivity of 32% but was performed in fewer patients. The most commonly used drug was methotrexate 31%, followed by leflunomide 17%, and a combination of both 13.67%. Among the biologics, infliximab 6% and tocilizumab 5.33% stood out. Conclusion. In this center, RA primarily affects adult women. It has an oligoarticular clinical presentation, and diagnosis is usually late, with few requests for anti-CCP.

Keywords : rheumatoid arthritis; rheumatoid factor; anti-ccp; treatment; Paraguay.

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