OBJECTIVE: We report a hypogammaglobulinemic patient with a destructive oligoarticular arthritis, whose synovial fluid cultures were repeatedly sterile. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified a Ureaplasma urealyticum infection in his affected joints, using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. CONCLUSION: The PCR technique promises to be extremely valuable in the rapid and specific diagnosis of infectious arthritis.
OBJECTIVE: We report a hypogammaglobulinemic patient with a destructive oligoarticular arthritis, whose synovial fluid cultures were repeatedly sterile. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified a Ureaplasma urealyticum infection in his affected joints, using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. CONCLUSION: The PCR technique promises to be extremely valuable in the rapid and specific diagnosis of infectious arthritis.