The progression of rheumatoid arthritis can be categorized into three stages, early, middle and late, according to joint destruction. In the early stage, there is no destruction of joint structure, in the middle stage, joint damage and extra-articular manifestations begin to appear, and in the late stage, joint structure is damaged and deformities appear.
Stages of disease development:
1. In early stage, there is synovitis without cartilage destruction, and there may be symptoms such as morning stiffness, fatigue and fever.
2. In the middle stage, patients may have inflammation, joint destruction and extra-articular manifestations, such as symmetric swelling and pain in the joints, warm skin around the joints, and pain caused by automatic or passive movements, which are mostly seen in the fingers and toes; some patients may have skin rheumatoid nodules, and there may be cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and other systemic involvements.
3. In the advanced stage, the joint structure has been destroyed, and the most common joint deformities are semi-dislocation of metacarpophalangeal joints, ulnar deviation of fingers and “swan neck”-like and “button pattern”-like manifestations as well as ankylosis of wrists and elbows, and inward and outward deformities of knee joints.
The clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis vary greatly among individuals, so if the patient experiences the above symptoms or other discomforts, please seek medical treatment as soon as possible.