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Patients with hereditary haemochromatosis (HH) may present arthralgia in the hands and large joints or severe arthropathy mimicking osteoarthritis typically involving metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints 2 and 3.1–3 This arthropathy, which may seriously affect quality of life, was reported to occur in 20%–50% of HH patients with articular complaints and can coexist with calcium pyrophosphate deposition.4–6
Hand arthropathy is not alleviated by phlebotomy, and in a few patients, disease is refractory or intolerant to standard treatments such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), low-dose colchicine or analgesics. Thus, these patients remain without adequate treatment.
Given the frequent presence of local inflammatory symptoms in MCP joints and the discovery that interleukin 1β (IL-1β) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of arthritis due to …
Footnotes
Contributors PR and AL wrote the manuscript. AL, AF, CB and HKE helped in the management of these patients. CB performed the ultrasound.
Competing interests None.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.