Rheumatic manifestations of hematologic disorders.

A review of the literature during the past year on rheumatic manifestations in hematologic diseases supports the idea that 80% of the hemorrhage in hemophilia occurs within the joints, with knees, elbows, and ankles being the most affected joints in adults. In contrast, the ankle is the target joint in children. Septic arthritis in hemophilic patients is becoming more important due to the advent of HIV infection. Radioactive synoviorthesis in hemarthrosis has the same rate of success as surgical synovectomy, but with far lower costs. A new study documents the association of arthritis and vasculitis in patients with myelodysplasic syndromes and lymphoproliferative disorders. An increased incidence of scoliosis in patients with beta-thalassemia has been noted. Finally, the effects of bone marrow transplantation in patients with previous autoimmune diseases is reviewed. Progression of rheumatoid arthritis after bone marrow transplantation is documented in a patient with 13 years of follow-up. Hematologic disorders in rheumatic diseases are not the topic of this review.