Bone & joints
Arthritis
Tuberculous arthritis
Author: Vijay Shankar, M.D.
Last author update: 1 March 2013
Last staff update: 6 February 2023
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: tuberculosis arthritis [title]
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Radiology description | Case reports | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Shankar V. Tuberculous arthritis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/jointsTBarthritis.html. Accessed November 28th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Insidious onset of chronic progressive arthritis, usually monoarticular in knee and hip; usually after osteomyelitis
- More common in children
- First, synovial membrane secretes excessive fluid; then proliferation, thickening, studding of its inner surface with tubercles; finally fibrosis of outer surface
- Leads to fibrous ankylosis of joint with obliteration of joint space
- Can detect from culture, examination of synovial fluid, PCR (apparent false positives in clinically negative patients may represent early disease, Arch Pathol Lab Med 2004;128:205)
Radiology description
- Marginal erosion of hip and knee joints, with destruction of subchondral bone on both sides of joint and loss of joint space
Case reports
- 2 year old girl with limping of right lower extremity (Reumatol Clin 2011;7:417)
- 34 year old woman from Burma with wrist swelling, initially AFB negative with negative cultures but subsequent diagnosis of TB tenosynovitis (Hum Pathol 2004;35:1044)
- 40 year old woman with pain and swelling in shoulder (Int J Surg Case Rep 2012;3:164)
- 57 year old woman with swelling and pain in elbow (Korean J Intern Med 2009;24:397)
Clinical images
Images hosted on other servers:
Arthroscopic view of elbow joint
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Granulomas with caseous necrosis; AIDS patients often have histiocytes with numerous acid fast organisms but no granulomas
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Synovial tissue
