Rapid, progressive neuropathic arthropathy of the hip in a patient co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus and tertiary syphilis: case report.

BACKGROUND: Syphilis is a chronic infection that is classified into three stages. In its tertiary stage, syphilis spreads to the brain, heart and other organs; the lesions may involve the skin, mucous membranes and bones. Neuropathic arthropathy associated with tertiary syphilis has rarely been described in Europe and its association with HIV-HCV co-infection has not been reported so far.This article reports the case of a man with tertiary syphilis presenting with rapidly evolving neuropathic arthropathy of the hip and extensive bone destruction. CASE PRESENTATION: On initial presentation, the patient complained of progressively worsening left-sided coxalgia without localized or generalized inflammation. The patient reported to have no history of previous infections, trauma or cancer. Plain x-ray films of the left coxofemoral joint showed marked degeneration with necrosis of the proximal epiphysis of femur and morphological alterations of the acetabulum without protrusion. Primary coxarthrosis was diagnosed and hip arthroplasty was offered, but the patient declined treatment. Three months later, the patient presented a marked deterioration of his general condition. He disclosed that he was seropositive for HCV and HIV, as confirmed by serology. Syphilis serology testing was also positive. A Girdlestone's procedure was performed and samples were collected for routine cultures for bacteria and acid fast bacilli, all resulting negative.Although histological findings were inconclusive, confirmed positive serology for syphilis associated with progressive arthropathy was strongly suggestive of tertiary syphilis, probably exacerbated by HIV-HCV co-infection. The patient partially recovered the ability to walk. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the resurgence of syphilis, this disease should be considered as a possible cause of neuropathic arthropathy when other infectious causes have been ruled out, particularly in patients with HIV and/or HCV co-infection.

Charcot's arthropathy in a patient with HIV-associated neuropathy.

Charcot's arthropathy is a destructive arthritis that can occur in patients with peripheral neuropathies of various etiologies. This report describes a rare case of Charcot's arthropathy attributable to the distal sensory polyneuropathy associated with HIV infection. As treatments for HIV/AIDS advance and life expectancy increases, cases of end-organ sequelae, such as Charcot foot, may become more common.

Evaluation of 4 commercial test kits for parvovirus B19-specific IgM.

Four commercial test kits for parvovirus B19 IgM were evaluated by testing 491 sera assembled into 7 panels. The serum panels were designed to assess sensitivity and specificity of the commercial assays and to reflect the various clinical settings in which acute B19 infection forms part of the differential diagnosis. A mu-capture radioimmunoassay (MACRIA) was used as the reference test. With respect to MACRIA, the commercial B19 IgM assays showed an overall sensitivity of 70.1-84.1% and specificity of 92.2 to 97.4%. Assay performance varied in different clinical situations. In sera from adults with acute B19 arthropathy, all 4 assays were 100% sensitive, but in children with fifth disease, the sensitivity ranged from 44.1 to 88.6%. The sensitivity of all 4 assays was also low when testing samples collected more than 6 weeks after onset of symptoms and in women with B19-associated embryopathy. Specificity was greater than 97% in healthy blood donors, but varied from 70.9 to 83.3% in patients acutely infected with other viruses, including rubella. Although the IgM test kits here evaluated may be usefully introduced for B19 diagnosis in certain settings, knowledge of their limitations will be important when results have been interpreted.

Clinical manifestations in individuals with recent diagnosis of HTLV type I infection.

BACKGROUND: Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is known to cause HTLV-associated myelopathy (HAM)/tropical spastic paraparesis and adult T cell leukemia. A growing body of evidence links HTLV-1 infection with an increasing spectrum of disease, including uveitis, periodontal disease, arthropathy, sicca syndrome, and neurologic deficits. OBJECTIVES: Despite recent findings, the natural history of HTLV-1 infection remains poorly defined. This study was designed to better characterize initial clinical and neurological findings in individuals diagnosed with HTLV-1 infection. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 71 individuals recently diagnosed with HTLV-1 and 71 uninfected age- and sex-matched blood donors in Salvador, Brazil. Subjects were administered a standardized questionnaire and underwent physical exam. RESULTS: HTLV-1 infected subjects were significantly more likely than controls to report complaints of hand and foot numbness (OR=5.3; 95% CI: 1.8-15.3; p=0.002 and OR=4.0; 95% CI: 1.3-12; p=0.013 respectively), difficulty running (OR=4.0; 95% CI: 1.1-14.2; p=0.032), nocturia (OR=5.0; 95% CI: 1.1-22.8; p=0.038), arthralgia (OR=3.3; 95% CI: 1.4-7.7; p=0.006), and photophobia (OR=3.3; 95% CI: 1.4-7.7; p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Neurologic, ocular and rheumatologic complaints may be the first manifestations of HTLV-1 infection. Therefore, all patients presenting with initial diagnosis should be rigorously screened for these symptoms.