Characterization and associated factors of Colombian patients with non-erosive rheumatoid arthritis with more than 5 years of evolution.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune, systemic, inflammatory and chronic pathology that mainly affects the synovial tissue and joint structures, with its consequent degeneration and progressive damage, which impacts on the quality of life of patients. The mortality rate of this disease is twice that of the general population. It is a multifactorial pathology, where genetic factors influence up to 60% in its onset and outcome. The remaining percentage corresponds to the participation of the environment, hormones and immunology. Its prevalence ranges between 0.5-1%, affecting more women. At 2 years, 75-90% of patients present bone structural damage (resorption) in the areas with greater inflammation, mainly in hands and feet. This resorption process is called erosion. The latter, observed as a whole, are responsible for the patient becoming disabled, with high economic, social and environmental costs. It is noteworthy that a small group of patients diagnosed and treated for RA, with more than 5 years of evolution, do not present this radiographic characteristic, which makes them interesting, since they are possibly associated to different serological and genetic factors; favoring in turn a better prognosis. This damage is evaluated with radiographs, although there are other more sensitive and specific imaging techniques, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, ultrasonography and computerized axial tomography (CAT). In Colombia and worldwide, genetic studies have been performed in patients with RA, but specific haplotypes related to the absence of erosions have not been established, nor have simultaneous associations been made between serology, quality of life score, indices and paraclinics of disease activity, genetics and influence of treatment.