Authors
Mira Atef, Rash Ahmed Abdalaziz, Ahmed Badry, Hanan Darweesh, Mohammed Mostafa Abdel Razik, Hala Ramadan, Yasmin Gaber
Published in
Arab journal of gastroenterology : the official publication of the Pan-Arab Association of Gastroenterology. Oct 05, 2026. Epub Oct 05, 2026.
Abstract
Patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may develop digestive and hepatic complications. Abdominal ultrasound is sensitive to assess bowel abnormalities. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatic disorders in RA patients and study the reliability of abdominal ultrasound in detecting these disorders to allow early management and better prognosis.
70 RA patients and 70 non-RA people as a reference control group were included in this study. Both study groups were subjected to the Rome IV criteria, the gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaire, and trans-abdominal ultrasound. Transient elastography was done for subjects with bright or bright coarse liver on ultrasound.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) were statistically significantly higher in RA patients (28.5% and 51.4% respectively) than in the non-RA group (11.4% and 12.8% respectively) (p value = 0.019 and 0.000 respectively). Bright or bright coarse liver was statistically significantly higher in RA patients than in the non-RA group (p value = 0.000) and was statistically significantly higher in RA patients on methotrexate-based therapy (p value = 0.012). Only 2 RA patients (5.4%) had significant fibrosis (≥F2).
Abdominal ultrasound is recommended in the routine evaluation of the liver besides liver enzymes while bowel ultrasound is not recommended as routine screening in RA patients in the absence of complaint.
PMID:
42833958
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Oct 2026.
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