A presentation of Poncet's disease identified following immunosuppressive steroid therapy [Correspondence]

Poncet's disease in human immunodeficiency virus: a case report

BACKGROUND

Poncet's disease is a rare reactive polyarthritis associated with active tuberculosis and no evidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the affected joint.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report a case of a 35 year old Human Immunodeficiency Virus positive Kenyan male of Kikuyu ethnicity from Kiambu County who presented to hospital with a 6 day history of bilateral knee pain and swelling, bilateral ankle pain with right ankle swelling. The patient reported 6 months history of cough and weight loss. Chest radiograph had features consistent with pulmonary tuberculosis and sputum smear was positive for acid fast bacilli. Analysis of fluid from knee effusion showed no evidence of tuberculosis. Resolution of joint swelling was seen after 3 weeks of tuberculosis chemotherapy suggesting that this was reactive arthritis following pulmonary tuberculosis in a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

CONCLUSION

This case represents a rare manifestation of tuberculosis presenting as a reactive arthritis. There are very few cases of Poncet's disease reported in literature and the diagnosis of Poncet's disease in Human Immunodeficiency Virus/tuberculosis coinfected patient is extremely uncommon. This case report has been presented to raise awareness of this unusual tuberculosis complication and review its diagnosis and treatment.

Poncet's disease (tubercular rheumatism) with primary involvement of the foot - A case report

We present a rare case with primary tubercular involvement of the foot, accomapanied by a reactionary (aseptic) effusion in the knee. The diagnosis was delayed due to unusual presentation and also because of failure to elicit a detailed history. Incision and drainage of the foot abscess and antitubercular drug therapy resulted in satisfactory control of tubercular infection. Polyarticular presentation may not always signify active tubercular focus in every joint; it may reflect reactive synovitis known as Poncet's disease, which resolves with multidrug antitubercular therapy.A multidispilinary approach should be adopted and chest physicians, rheumatologists and orthopaedic surgeons should work in close association to correctly diagnose and treatthis condition.

Clinical features of Poncet's disease. From the description of 198 cases found in the literature

Poncet's disease (PD) is an entity described as a reactive arthritis due to tuberculous infection elsewhere from the joints. PD existence has been questioned; however, more cases have been reported over the years. Due to its rare nature, little is known about the clinical picture of this disease and no prospective studies had been made to address this issue. We performed a systematic review of the written literature on PD in different databases using the key words "Poncet's disease," "tuberculous rheumatism," and "tuberculous reactive arthritis." Out of 78 articles, 198 patients were included in the analysis, plus our patient. Several characteristic patterns were found. Also, a review of the pathogenesis and some hypotheses are made. PD is a well-defined entity, which should be taken as a reactive arthritis for future studies given the increase in TB incidence and prevalence around the world, especially in high-burden countries.