A Case of Polyarthritis Associated with Reactivation of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Dong Hoon Kang; Young Il Seo; Rul Bin Kim; Ho Joong Kim; Soo Young Lim; Ji Suk Han; Su Hee Song; Soo Kyung Lim; Hyun Ah Kim

doi:10.4078/jrd.2013.20.5.310

Journal List > J Rheum Dis > v.20(5) > 1064067

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Kang, Seo, Kim, Kim, Lim, Han, Song, Lim, and Kim: A Case of Polyarthritis Associated with Reactivation of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Case Report

J Rheum Dis 2013;20(5):310-313.

Published online: 31 October 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4078/jrd.2013.20.5.310

A Case of Polyarthritis Associated with Reactivation of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Dong Hoon Kang, Young Il Seo, Rul Bin Kim, Ho Joong Kim, Soo Young Lim, Ji Suk Han, Su Hee Song, Soo Kyung Lim, Hyun Ah Kim

Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea

Corresponding to : Hyun Ah Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, 896, Pyongchon-dong, Dongan-gu, Anyang 431-070, Korea. E-mail : kimha@hallym.ac.kr

Received 25 June 201226 September 2012 Accepted 27 September 2013

This is a Free Access article, which permits unrestricted non-commerical use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Hepatitis viruses (hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus) have been associated with development of inflammatory arthritis. Approximately 400 million people worldwide have chronic HBV infection. HBV infection is the one of the most common causes of liver disease, and the prevalence of HBV infection in Korea is almost 6%. Arthritis in patients with HBV can be encountered in two settings: as a rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-like, acute, self-limited polyarthritis during the pre-symptomatic phase of acute hepatitis B, or, more rarely, as arthritis oc-curring in the context of HBV-associated polyarteritis nodosa (PAN). In both cases, the pathogenesis of arthritis is attributed to the deposition of immune complexes containing viral antigens (HBsAg or HBeAg) and their respective antibodies (anti-HBs and anti-HBe) in synovial tissues. Here we report on a case of polyarthritis associated with reactivation of chronic hepatitis B virus infection with a review of the literature.

Keywords: Chronic hepatitis B, Immune complex, Polyarthritis

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Figure 1.

Bone scan: increased radioisotope uptake in bilateral shoulders, and left knee.

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