Septic arthritis in children with hemophilia
A. S. Pappo, G. R. Buchanan and A. Johnson
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235-9063.
Four of the 139 children with hemophilia followed up at our center have
developed septic arthritis during the past 6 years (2.9% incidence). Two
infections were caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and one each by
Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae type B. Common features at
time of presentation included fever and a 2- to 7-day history of joint pain
and swelling unresponsive to factor replacement infusions. Since three of
the patients were human immunodeficiency virus seropositive, we propose
that human immunodeficiency virus infection may be responsible for the
disproportionately high number of cases of septic arthritis observed in our
patient population.
