Polyenthesitis.

ABSTRACT

We described the clinical symptoms and signs of 11 cases of polyenthesitis, confirmed by the presence of inflammation in biopsies and increased activity in scintigraphy. All cases are negative for HLA-B27, and there is no presence of systemic inflammatory reaction, radiographic sacroiliitis, or chronic arthritis. The enthesitis is not ossifying and follows a rather benign clinical course. In one case, herpes virus-like particles were detected in the fibroblast debris of the tissue removed from Achilles tendon insertion. This fact suggests that polyenthesitis may be a clinical manifestation due to a reaction to an infectious agent.