2. Different patterns of joint involvement
Patients may develop different patterns of joint involvement. The most common are asymmetrical oligoarticular arthritis, with more than one and fewer than four articulations taken in a symmetric pattern; symmetrical polyarthritis, with more than four articulations taken in a symmetric pattern; distal interphalangeal arthropathy, when only the hands are affected by the disease; arthritis mutilans, when joint destruction is prevalent, and the function is compromised by the deformity.