Synovial fluid lactic acid in acute and chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy and in osteoarthritis.

A comparison of synovial fluid lactate levels has been made in cases of chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy (PA) with and without joint destruction, acute PA and osteoarthritis. No statistically significant difference could be observed between results of chronic PA and osteoarthritis. By contrast, synovial fluid lactate levels were significantly higher in acute PA in comparison with the two other groups. These data suggest that hypoxia is unlikely to play a role in destructive arthropathy commonly found in chronic PA.