With present-day diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid arthritis, almost any swollen painful joint is labeled rheumatoid, if no other diagnosis can be established, and with this diagnosis goes a stereotyped impression of crippling disease. The authors have studied 78 patients with a limited type of chronic arthritis involving one to several large joints, with few or no systemic manifestations. Of the 54 patients who appeared to be well at the time of study, 10 had residual effects of arthritis, and in 5 of these the residuum was slight. Duration of disease activity, severity of disease, and type of treatment appeared to be the major factors influencing results.