What is seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis?
It is a term to identify patients with RA who are RF-negative and ACPA-negative. Although called “seronegative,” some of these patients have a positive ANA (without antibodies against any specific antigen). In general, RA patients who are seronegative have a better prognosis, fewer extraarticular manifestations, and better survival. Additionally, a number of these patients over time will, in fact, be found to have some other disease. Thus, when dealing with seronegative RA patients, the clinician should always look for the possibility of psoriatic arthritis, lupus arthritis, calcium pyrophosphate crystal deposition disease, gout, hemochromatosis or another form of arthritis other than RA.
