PLANTAR FASCIITIS AND ACHILLES TENDINITIS AMONG 150 CASES OF SERONEGATIVE SPONDARTHRITIS

SUMMARY A painful heel syndrome (plantar fasciitis and/or Achilles tendinitis) was found in 33 among 150 patients suffering from a seronegative spondarthritis. The clinical and radiological manifestations of this syndrome were similar in the nosological entities included in the seronegative spondarthritis group. HLA-B27 antigen was found in 91% of the patients, radiological sacroiliitis in 64% and an asymmetric peripheral arthritis in all cases. By contrast, Achilles tendinitis was not encountered in 220 cases of rheumatoid arthritis; plantar fasciitis was exceptional in the same case

Destructive pneumococcal septic arthritis in end-stage renal disease

Summary: Pneumococcal arthritis generally presents as non-destructive monoarthritis, although some underlying metabolic disorders such as liver failure and diabetes have been suggested to represent a risk factor for severe joint disease. Here we report a case of destructive pneumococcal arthritis of the left hip joint in a patient suffering from chronic renal failure treated with hemodialysis for ten years. Inspite of effective anti-pneumococcal antibiotic treatment, the patient with pre-existing renal osteopathy and a mild osteoarthritis continued to suffer from severe and disabling pain of the left hip. This case demonstrates that pneumococcal joint infection in patients with underlying uremic bone disease can lead to quick deterioration of the affected join

CPPD crystal deposition disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and the outcome of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis in which calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal deposits were found to coexist in synovial fluid analysis. Such association was more frequent than previously believed with CPPD crystals found in 25.8% of 93 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. As a group, a trend toward a worse outcome was suggested by more frequent prostheses of the lower lim