[Synoviorthesis with radioactive gold in hemophilia]

Intra-articular haemorrhage in haemophiliacs often provokes chronic synovitis which leads to further repeated haemorrhages. This conditions has been treated by means of intra-articular injection of 198Au in colloidal solution and this treatment has cured the synovitis in 50 per cent of cases and given a notable improvement in about another 40 percent. Because of this, in this group of patients it was possible to reduce replacement therapy to less than 1/4 and the effect persisted over at least 3 years. This treatment even means that surgical synovectomy may be avoided in many cases. No unfavourable effects were seen on joint mobility or on bone growth but an undesirable effect of the radioactivity has been described in the form of chromosome changes in the circulating lymphocytes, and the importance of these pathological transformations is the subject of new experiments.