We report the case of a 40-year-old woman with diffuse uveitis, sensorineural hearing loss and cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis as features of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome who developed symmetric polyarthritis and stiffness of small and large joints, in addition to rheumatoid arthritis. Although their target tissues are distinct, both diseases have a possible autoimmune origin strongly associated with HLA-DRB4.