125Iodinated fibrinogen uptake in inflammatory joint disease as a complicating factor in the detection of deep vein thrombosis.

An enhanced uptake of 125I-fibrinogen observed in the arthritic knee joint of a patient suspected of deep vein thrombosis was confirmed in a number of patients with inflammatory joint disease in the absence of thrombosis. Whilst this is a potentially serious source of false positive diagnoses, the possibility also exists that this phenomenon could be used to evaluate the degree to which active disease is present in the joints of patients suffering from inflammatory disease.