Mycobacterium marinum arthritis mimicking rheumatoid arthritis.
Mycobacterium marinum is an atypical mycobacterium found in salt and fresh water. M. marinum infection occurs following skin trauma in fresh or salt water and usually presents as a localized granuloma or sporotrichotic lymphangitis. It rarely affects the musculoskeletal system. We describe a patient who presented with subcutaneous nodules and an inflammatory arthritis that was thought to be rheumatoid arthritis, and was treated as such with corticosteroids, methotrexate, and anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha therapy, with worsening of his arthritis.
Lam
Alex
A
Rheumatology Division, Department of Medicine, The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0019, USA.
Toma
Wadie
W
Schlesinger
Naomi
N
D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D019910:Mycobacterium marinum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents