[Multifocal tuberculous osteoarthritis and synovitis. 10 cases]

Synovial or osteo-articular tuberculosis is multifocal in about 10 percent of cases. Here, this form strikes older people and quite frequently the patients receive corticotherapy because of confusion with rheumatism. This premature treatment delays the diagnosis and at the same time favors the spreading of the germ. The 10 patients observed in this study had an average of 3 focuses simultaneously, the sites most often involved being the synovialis of the flexors of the fingers, the discovertebral articulations, the knee and the tibiotarsalis. The diagnosis is based on the presence of fistula (4 times out of 10), x-ray of the lungs (4 miliaries and 1 infiltrate), films of the spine (characteristic images of Pott, 6 times), the bacteriological study (recovery of Koch bacillus 3 times upon direct examination and 6 times after culture) and finally the biopsy of the synovialis (specific synovitis 3 times out of 4 biopsies). Antituberculosis treatment often involved tolerance problems. It helped to cure 7 patients with few sequelae on the whole. The 3 other patients died either because of old age or complications due to corticosteroids.