The sacro-iliac joint in rheumatoid arthritis in adult females.

Summary and ConclusionsRadiographic changes in the sacro-iliac joints were studied in 278 cases of definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis in adult females. The control series consisted of 147 non-rheumatoid females.Four cases of 278 with rheumatoid arthritis showed bilateral fusion of the sacro-iliac joints.Sacro-iliac changes were present in 36.7 per cent of the rheumatoid arthritis group and in 16.3 per cent of the control group.During adolescence there is a tendency towards developing more sacro-iliac changes than later in the life. This might be caused by a special property of the rheumatoid disease at this age.Later changes are produced by severe, disseminated, destructive rheumatoid arthritis or secondarily by wear and tear.