Concomitant Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case Report

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative motor neuron disease that leads to a gradual loss of motor neurons manifesting as progressive weakness, dysarthria, and respiratory decline, with a relatively short life expectancy. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by polyarthritis and affects multiple systems. Motor neuron involvement is rare in rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we report a unique case of a patient with an established diagnosis of ALS who later developed seropositive RA. A 58-year-old male from Baghdad presented to our center with polyarticular joint pain, stiffness, and swelling for about four months, the patient had a history of progressive neurological deficits. The final diagnosis was seropositive rheumatoid arthritis with concomitant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. While the patient's joint symptoms responded well to methotrexate and prednisolone, he continued to experience a neurological decline. This is one of the few reported cases of concurrent ALS and RA, highlighting the complexity of managing overlapping neurodegenerative and autoimmune conditions.