Comparison of laboratory and clinical response in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with chrysotherapy

It is common for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to exhibit an anemia of chronic chronic disease, throbocytosis, and other laboratory changes consistent with inflammation such as an elevated erthrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and or C-reactive protein (CRP). Chrysotherapy, along with other slow slow acting drugs used in the treatment of RA, may partially of completely correct certain abnormal laboratory tests, although these changes may take several months to become apparent. Several studies have equated CRP, ESR, platelet count, and radiographic changes with extent of severity of disease. Similarly, correlations of laboratory values with each other have also been attempted in order to quantitate disease activity or to provide diagnostic aids in a sample RA population. The objective of this report is to assess the relationship between changes in selected laboratory variables and clinical outcomes in iindividuals suffering from RA.