We studied whether the high incidence of secondary amyloidosis (SA) is a consistent finding in patients with inflammatory joint disease. A total of 4508 biopsies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis were studied at the Rheumatism Foundation Hospital during 1987-1997. The results show that the annual number of findings of SA was reduced from 68 to less than 10. We suggest that a change in medication towards more frequent use of cytostatic agents is the reason for the reduction in incidence of SA.