title: Tuberculosis of the sternoclavicular joints.
abstract: From May 1991 to December 1997, we treated 9 patients with tubercular arthritis in 10 sternoclavicular joints. The patients presented with a painful swelling (7 joints), painless swelling (2 joints) and a painless (?) discharging sinus (1 joint) having a mean duration of symptoms of 13 (6-32) months. The diagnosis was made with fine-needle aspiration or open biopsy. In 1 patient debridement of the joint was combined with open biopsy. All patients were initially put on a 4-drug regimen of antitubercular therapy (ATT). 2 joints not responding to closed treatment were surgically debrided after 2-3 months of ATT. Total duration of ATT was 14-18 months. At final follow-up after average 4.5 (1.5-7.5) years, all lesions had healed. 3 patients had mild limitation of shoulder motion, with no pain, and 2 patients had a cosmetically ugly scar at the site of the sinus or biopsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigahr, India. msdhillon@glide.net.in
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dhillon
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bahadur
authors.forename: O N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Nagi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003646:Debridement; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013247:Sternoclavicular Joint; D014394:Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents