Poncet's disease in a north Indian hospital

Although the entity of tuberculous rheumatism or Poncet's disease has sometimes been the subject of debate, it has been reported infrequently in the English literature. We discuss here seven patients (5 women, 2 men; age 18-48 years) who presented primarily with polyarthritis and fever and developed pulmonary, pleural or nodal tuberculosis later in the course of disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, collagen vascular diseases and other common causes of polyarthritis were ruled out by appropriate investigations. Polyarthritis resolved in all the patients after the institution of antitubercular treatment and did not recur, thus providing a therapeutic confirmation of the clinical diagnosis.