Intermittent Hydrarthrosis, Rare, Unknown, Underdiagnosed and Forgotten: First report in Gambia

Abstract

The first report of intermittent hydrarthrosis (IH) was made by Perrin in 1845; However, despite the simplicity of the symptoms and signs that characterize it, it is considered a rare disease, presumably its pathophysiology is autoinflammatory and of uncertain etiology. According to the number of reports published to date, the description of new cases remains extremely low. The chronicity and periodicity of the attacks of joint swelling, the tropism for the affected joint, almost always the knee, as well as the complete recovery without sequela after each attack, constitutes its characteristic hallmark. The simplicity of the clinical picture is at the same time the greatest obstacle to establishing the definitive diagnosis. Considering that there are no diagnostic criteria, it is necessary to exclude all conditions with a similar pattern, making the list large and complex. During the review of the literature, no references of publications of black patients were found, nor reports on the African continent. We decided to present the first case of intermittent hydrarthrosis in The Gambia and to date in the entire subregion.