Abstract

Of 300 patients with endemic skeletal fluorosis 187 (110 children and 77 adults) showed evidence of arthritis. The spine, especially its cervical portion, appeared to be mainly involved; elbow, hip and knee joints followed next in order.

Excerpt:

… In early stages, fluorosis is usually associated only with stiffness, backache, and joint pains which may suggest the diagnosis of rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and osteomalacia. At this stage the radiological findings of skeletal fluorosis may not be evident and therefore most of these cases are eithe rmisdiagnosed for other kinds of arthritis or the patients are treated symptomatically for pains of undetermined diagnosis (PUD). The majority of our patients had received treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis before they came under our observation

Therefore, it is important in the management of patients with fluorosis to be aware of their articular complications and differentiate them from other causes of polyarthritis.

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