Department of Musculoskeletal Medicine, Tampere University Medical School and Rheumatism Foundation Hospital, 18120 Heinola, Finland. kalevi.kaarela@reuma.fi
Symmetric non-erosive polyarthritis is the most common clinical feature in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report on a 42-year follow-up of a 71-year-old woman who first had polyarthritis in 1963 at the age of 29 and continuously since 1975. SLE was diagnosed in 2000 at the age of 66 as anti-dsDNA (56 kIU/l), and antinuclear antibodies (1:2,560) turned positive. In 2005 hand and feet radiographs revealed severe Jaccoud's arthritis with subluxations but without erosions.