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Jan Dequeker, MD, PhD
Division of Rheumatology K. U. Leuven, Belgium

JAMA. 1992;268(19):2649.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.

—The arguments formulated by Dr Domen are difficult to follow. In his previous letter¹ he mentions historical cases of rheumatoid arthritis, one found in an Egyptian mummy from the Fifth Dynasty (2750 to 2625 BC) and the probable case of Emperor Constantine IX (c 980 to 1055 AD). Now he supports the hypothesis that rheumatoid arthritis originated in the New World and entered the Old World after the 15th century.

The case of rheumatoid arthritis seen in the painting that we described dates back to 1430 to 1440. It thus predates the arrival in America of Columbus in 1492. In addition, we reported another patient with rheumatoid arthritis of the robust type in a priest born in Holland 76 years after the discovery of the New World.² The present published reports do not support the possibility that rheumatoid arthritis in Europe originated in the New World. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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