What are the symptoms of rheumatic nephritis?

We should understand the symptoms of rheumatic nephritis, because only by discovering these symptoms in time and taking timely treatment measures can we reduce the harm. Common manifestations are joint pain, joint swelling, or joint deformity and functional disorders.

1. Characteristics of joint manifestations:

(a) Joint pain.

(2) Morning stiffness: When patients wake up in the morning or rest for a long time, their joints feel sticky and stiff, which can only be relieved or disappear after movement. Morning stiffness is most prominent in rheumatoid arthritis and can last for several hours, but is shorter in other arthritis conditions.

(3) Joint swelling and tenderness often occur in painful joints and are signs of synovitis or surrounding soft tissue inflammation. The degree of swelling and tenderness varies depending on the severity of the inflammation. It may be caused by joint effusion or synovial hypertrophy. Bone hyperplasia is more common in osteoarthritis.

(IV) Joint deformity and dysfunction refers to the loss of the normal shape and restricted range of motion of the joints, such as the inability to fully straighten the knee, ulnar deviation of the metacarpophalangeal joints, and subluxation of the joints. These changes are associated with the destruction of cartilage and bone. Common in rheumatoid arthritis.

2. Characteristics of systemic symptoms:

It is necessary to grasp the manifestations of injury to other systems outside the joints for diagnosis. For example, a butterfly-shaped rash on the cheeks and proteinuria suggest systemic lupus erythematosus, a psoriatic rash suggests psoriatic arthritis, and a large number of dental caries suggest Sjögren's syndrome.

The patient's age and gender at onset are also helpful for diagnosis. For example, ankylosing spondylitis is more common in young men, systemic lupus erythematosus is more common in women of childbearing age, gout is more common in middle-aged men, and osteoarthritis is more common in middle-aged and elderly people.