The Multipurpose Arthritis Center is designed to improve the care of patients with arthritis in South Carolina and the Southeast by the expansion and coordination of the education and training of professionals and paraprofessionals; by research into the initiating events of selected rheumatic disorders, their early detection and pathogenesis; and by the creation of community-focused programs to improve and coordinate both patient care at the Medical University and its affiliated hospitals, and the referral patterns of care in the state and the region. The Center (1) consolidates and coordinates efforts of several disciplines into a team approach to care and training and integrates this coordinated approach into the formal training of professionals and paraprofessionals at the undergraduate level; (2) has designed and is implementing a flexible data acquisition system; (3) monitors process, outcome and cost of arthritis care to identify favorable factors for further development; (4) applies selected microvascular, connective tissue and immunologic measures to the early detection and prognostication of selected rheumatic syndromes and (5) is developing a cytogenetic screening capability to define the role of chromosome abnormalities in rheumatic disease.