Abstract: Objective  To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with popliteal cysts.Methods  General condition, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests,treatment and prognosis of 62 patients with RA with popliteal cysts admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Changzhou First People's Hospital from 2010 to 2018were collected, 50 patients with RA without popliteal cysts were selected as comparisons. Results  Compared with patients without popliteal cysts,patients with popliteal cystshad a longer duration (P=0.040), the proportion of patients with RA in activity， knee joint involvement increased significantly, the proportion of firstinfested joints in the knee joint increased significantly ,the proportion of people with limited mobility increased significantly (P<0.05). Of the 62 patients, 12 had a ruptured popliteal cyst and 50 had no rupture of the popliteal cyst. Compared with patients with unruptured popliteal cysts, the proportion of patients with ruptured axillary cysts aged ≥65 years old  increased (P=0.040), the proportion of cysts ≥16 cm2 increased (P=0.043) ,  the proportion of Rauschning and Lindgren  Ⅲ  patients increased (P=0.046),  the proportion of patients with reduced knee pain and swelling at admission was significantly higher than that without ruptured(P=0.000). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that DAS28 score, the total duration of the disease, the first joint affected was the knee joint, and the number of systemic damage ≥3 werethe risk factors for the occurrence of popliteal cyst in patients with RA. The treatment of RA with popliteal cysts included drug therapy and drug combined with joint cavity puncture. Patients treated with drugs combined with joint cavity puncture hada faster onset than patients treated with drugs alone.Symptoms of swelling and pain in the calf wererelieved faster (P=0.000).The cure rate and recurrence rate of the two regimens were not statistically significant (P>0.999).Conclusion  The longer the course of disease of RA patients, the more obvious the disease activity, the more serious the system damage,the moreprone to popliteal cysts;the larger the cyst, the greater the risk of rupture.Drug combined with joint cavity puncturetreatment has a shorter onset time, symptoms are relieved faster.

Key words: arthritis, , rheumatoid, popliteal cysts, therapy