Idiopathic hypoparathyroidism associated with adult rheumatoid arthritis.

A 48-year-old female patient with adult onset idiopathic hypoparathyroidism diagnosed at the age of 28 years developed a typical seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at 46 years of age after several years of evolution of a palindromic rheumatism. Only one case of an association between idiopathic hypoparathyroidism and RA has been described in the medical literature. Autoimmunity seems to play a pivotal role in the aetiopathogenesis of both diseases, and could explain the nature of this association; nevertheless, a chance association could not be excluded.