The Best Rheumatoid Arthritis Emedicine 2023. Web rheumatoid arthritis (ra) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease of unknown cause. Ra commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees.

It can be difficult to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis when it is in the early stages because: Web rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation and pain in one or more joints. Web in a patient with a moderate to high suspicion of ra, a symmetric polyarthritis, particularly of the mcp, mtp, and/or pip joints, confirms a diagnosis of ra.