Tuberculosis in a rheumatoid patient. A case report.

A 72-year-old white woman with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis subsequently developed polyarticular tuberculosis. Clinical and radiographic evidence of deterioration of the right knee and left elbow was erroneously attributed to progressive rheumatoid arthritis. The diagnosis of a tuberculous infection was unduly delayed. Failure to recognize this infection might have been disastrous if a total knee arthroplasty had been performed as planned. This case illustrates the importance of awareness of other possible origins of joint destruction and infection in rheumatoid patients with rapid deterioration of joint function.