title: Acute polyarthritis associated with birefringent lipid microspherules occurring in a patient with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: We describe a 52-year-old patient with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who developed an acute polyarthritis of her hands and wrists. Synovial fluid analysis revealed the presence of intra and extracellular lipid microspherules with the typical appearance of Maltese crosses under polarized light microscopy. No other specific cause could be identified. This is the first description of an acute polyarthritis associated with lipid microspherules in RA.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Pathology, Saint-Luc Hospital, University of Montreal, Quebec, PQ.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rivest
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hazeltine
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gariepy
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Medicis
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001168:Arthritis / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D001718:Birefringence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids