Clinical and biological characteristics of Ureaplasma urealyticum induced polyarthritis in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia

Abstract

Persistent infectious polyarthritis caused by Ureaplasma urealyticum in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia is described. The patient developed a symmetrical, destructive polyarthritis and tenosynovitis associated with a markedly depressed synovial fluid glucose concentration and characteristic soft tissue abscesses. The ureaplasma o sm developed resistance to multiple antibiotics and persisted for five years. The organism was identified repeatedly in many joints by culture, confirmed by DNA hybridisation, and mycoplasma-like structures were shown in synovial tissues by electron microscopy.