Tubercular rheumatism - Poncet's disease

• Main Authors: Abhinav Kumar, Ashish Kumar Singh, Priya Bansal, Rohit Bansal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2021-01-01
• Series: Medical Journal of Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth
• Subjects: polyarthritis; poncet disease; tuberculosis; tubercular rheumatism
• Online Access: http://www.mjdrdypv.org/article.asp?issn=2589-8302;year=2021;volume=14;issue=1;spage=97;epage=99;aulast=Kumar
• ISSN: 2589-8302; 2589-8310

Poncet's disease is a rare form of tuberculosis (TB). It is described as a hypersensitivity reaction of extra-articular TB, which manifests as acute-onset non-destructive polyarthritis of large joints. It resolves completely on anti-tubercular therapy. We describe a case of a young female patient who presented with symmetrical polyarthritis on a background of tubercular lymphadenitis. The workup for rheumatological diseases was negative. A diagnosis of Poncet's disease or tubercular rheumatism was made by exclusion. There was complete resolution of symptoms of joint disease following anti-tubercular therapy. Poncet's disease should be kept under suspicion in TB endemic areas while investigating patients of arthritis. In a resource-limited setting, in patients with TB, the response of coincident inflammatory arthritis to anti-tubercular therapy may be first observed, before subjecting them to further investigations and/or empirical therapy.