Polyarthritis is any type of arthritis that involves 5 or more joints simultaneously. It can be associated with autoimmune conditions; it may be experienced at any age and is not sex specific.[1]
| Polyarthritis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Osteoarthritis (OA) location on the skeleton anterior | |
| Specialty | Rheumatology |
Causes
editPolyarthritis is often caused by an auto-immune disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and lupus erythematosus, or other inflammatory rheumatic diseases, like crystal arthropathies. It can also be caused by cancer or various medications.[1]
Another cause of polyarthritis is infection, which may be viral or bacterial.[1] Viruses that cause polyarthritis include alphaviruses, such as chikungunya virus, Sindbis virus and Ross River virus.[2] Arthritis caused by bacterial infection of the joint is termed septic arthritis and does not commonly affect multiple joints. It may notably be caused by gonococcus. Bacteria can also cause polyarthritis not by directly infecting the joints; instead, infection located elsewhere in the body can cause immune reaction, which becomes the direct cause of the inflammation of joints. This form or arthritis is called reactive and often coexists with inflammation of the urethra, and of the conjuctiva in the eye.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Alpay-Kanıtez, N; Çelik, S; Bes, C (October 2019). "Polyarthritis and its differential diagnosis". European Journal of Rheumatology. 6 (4): 167–173. doi:10.5152/eurjrheum.2019.19145. PMC 6812894. PMID 31657698.
- ^ Kafai, NM; Diamond, MS; Fox, JM (April 2022). "Distinct Cellular Tropism and Immune Responses to Alphavirus Infection". Annual Review of Immunology. 40: 615–649. doi:10.1146/annurev-immunol-101220-014952. PMC 10350340. PMID 35134315.
- ^ Kumar, A (December 2014). "How to investigate new-onset polyarthritis". Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology. 28 (6): 844–859. doi:10.1016/j.berh.2015.04.014. PMID 26096089. Retrieved 10 February 2024.