Chronic polyarthritis associated with hypogammaglobulinemia. A study of two patients.

Two adult patients with hypogammaglobulinemia and chronic synovitis were studied. Synovial tissue and fluid were examined by histologic, virologic, and immunologic methods. The synovium lacked characteristic histologic features of rheumatoid arthritis, and B lymphocytes were absent from the synovial tissue, fluid, and peripheral blood. These 2 patients may represent a form of chronic synovitis produced in the absence of any B lymphocyte response.