Background: The diagnostic profile of patients with rheumatic diseases admitted to a general hospital is variable. Aim: To report the epidemiological profile of patients with rheumatic diseases admitted to a tertiary care hospital. Material and methods: All admissions to a Medicine ward of a general hospital and seen by the Rheumatology team were prospectively registered during one year in 1999. Patients were classified as primarily admitted for a rheumatic disease or admitted for other cause that required a consultation with the Rheumatology team. Results: One hundred forty five admissions due to rheumatic diseases were registered. Of these, 82 were due to primary rheumatic diseases. Systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis were the main diagnoses and the mean hospital stay was 18.5 days. Sixty three patients required a consultation with the Rheumatology team specially due to osteoarthritis and crystal induced diseases. Conclusions: Admissions due to rheumatic diseases are prolonged, correspond to 0.46% of all admissions and the main responsible disease is systemic lupus erythematosus (Rev Méd Chile 2001; 129: 653-9)