Pleurisy with effusion in rheumatoid arthritis, with reference to the low concentration of glucose in pleural fluid.

The concept that inflammation of the pleura might be one of the systemic manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis is not new, Fuller (1) having mentioned it in 1860. Convincing evidence was not published, however, until Baggenstoss and Rosenberg (2) reported their postmortem findings in 1943. Since then there have been numerous papers on the subject, and excellent reviews are available in the recent reports of Lee and his associates (3) and Horler and Thompson (4) . During a study of the concentration of glucose in pleural fluid (5), three patients were encountered who had active rheumatoid arthritis and pleurisy with effusion. The concentration of glucose in the pleural fluid of each of these patients was very low. This observation and recent reports in the literature prompted review of the Mayo Clinic records for additional data pertinent to this subject.