A Case Report of Chikungunya Fever, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Felty’s Syndrome

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic chikungunya (CHIK) arthritis, an inflammatory arthritis, often follows acute CHIK fever (CHIKF), a viral infection. The pathogenesis of chronic CHIK arthritis is poorly characterized, but may resemble other forms of inflammatory arthritis. Clinically, chronic CHIK arthritis sometimes mimics rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Case Report: We report a patient with well-characterized CHIKF followed 2 months later by chronic CHIK arthritis not only resembling RA clinically, but also associated with RA biomarkers and extra-articular features, including Felty’s syndrome (FS). Conclusions: We describe this patient’s excellent response to methotrexate and discuss the implications her case provides in understanding this important emerging rheumatic disease.