[Joint diseases as the early clinical symptom of hemochromatosis].

In three patients arthropathy was the earliest symptom of hemochromatosis. Two of these patients had a precirrhotic stage of hemochromatosis. The liver histology of the third patient showed a beginning cirrhosis. The serum iron ranged from 212 to 260 micrograms/dl. The transferrin saturation was 95-100%. Serum iron and transferrin should be determined in all patients with arthralgias, since arthropathy may be the first clinical sign of hemochromatosis.