arthropathies

Arthropathy is a broad term for disease of the joints or joint disease. It covers degenerative, inflammatory, metabolic, infectious, and other causes that may affect one or many joints and may be acute or chronic.

Common categories include osteoarthritis (degenerative), inflammatory arthritides such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, crystal arthropathies like gout and calcium pyrophosphate deposition, infectious arthritis, and metabolic arthropathies such as those linked to hemochromatosis.

Pathophysiology varies by type. Degenerative changes involve cartilage loss and bone spur formation; autoimmune inflammatory arthritides involve synovial inflammation; crystal arthropathies involve crystal deposition; septic arthritis involves infection. Clinically, patients often have joint pain, swelling, stiffness, and reduced range of motion, and inflammatory forms may present with systemic symptoms.

Diagnosis relies on history and examination, as well as imaging and laboratory tests. X-ray or MRI can show joint changes; labs may include ESR or CRP, autoantibodies such as RF or anti-CCP, uric acid, and synovial fluid analysis for crystals or infection.

Treatment aims to relieve pain, protect function, and treat the underlying disease. Symptomatic care uses NSAIDs or acetaminophen and corticosteroids as needed; inflammatory arthritides may require disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and biologic agents; gout is treated with urate-lowering therapy and anti-inflammatory drugs; lifestyle modification and physical therapy support recovery.

Prognosis and management depend on the specific condition. Some arthropathies are chronic but controllable with early and appropriate therapy; others may cause persistent pain or disability, and some forms begin in childhood, such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis.