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Letter
Transient joint effusion: a forgotten side effect of high dose corticosteroid treatment
  1. F Schiavon
  1. Division of Rheumatology, Via Giustiniani 2, 35142 Padova, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Professor F Schiavon;
    f.schiavon{at}unipd.it

https://doi.org/10.1136/ard.62.5.491

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    Pulse therapy with high doses of corticosteroids, although generally well tolerated, is associated with a variety of side effects, sometimes life threatening but, more often, mild. Among these, joint manifestations are only rarely encountered. Patients sometimes feel transient arthralgias, but the development of synovial effusion is exceptionally reported.

    We described the case of a woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and nephritis who developed a transient bilateral knee synovial effusion during pulse therapy with a high dose of corticosteroids.

    CASE REPORT

    A 62 year old woman was admitted to our division because of SLE with nephritis. Eight months before the admission, in April 2000, she developed arthritis in the last four toes of the left foot. She was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, with complete remission. Serological findings showed a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of 52 mm/1st h, normal C reactive protein, and a decrease in total …

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