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Tuberculous arthritis - Overview

Alternative Names

Granulomatous arthritis

Definition of Tuberculous arthritis:

Tuberculous arthritis is an infection of the joints due to tuberculosis.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Approximately 2% of people who have tuberculosis will develop this form of arthritis. The joints most often involved are the:

Ankles
Hips
Knees
Spine
Wrists

Most cases involve just one joint.

Tuberculosis involving the spine is often referred to as Pott's disease. The fictional Hunchback of Notre Dame had a humpback that is thought to have been caused by tuberculosis.

Reviewed last on: 9/17/2008
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, PhD, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Alparsian L, Yu JS, Weissman BN. Imaging. In: Harris ED, Budd RC, Genovese MC, Firestein GS, Sargent JS, Sledge CB, eds. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2005: chap 51.

McCune WJ, Golbus J. Monarticular arthritis. In: Harris ED, Budd RC, Genovese MC, Firestein GS, Sargent JS, Sledge CB, eds. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2005: chap 34.

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