Palindromic rheumatism: a response to chloroquine.

We reviewed 71 patients with palindromic rheumatism. The average length of followup was 3.6 years. Fifty-one patients received antimalarial therapy. Forty-one of the 51 patients experienced marked improvement with 77.5% reduction in frequency and 63% reduction in duration of attacks. Sixteen out of the 71 patients developed persistent arthritis in the form of rheumatoid arthritis (12 patients), systemic lupus erythematosus (2 patients), Crohn's disease (1 patient) and asymmetric seronegative arthropathy (1 patient). Chloroquine therapy, therefore, seems effective in relieving palindromic rheumatism.