musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders
Calcium Pyrophosphate Arthritis
Symptoms and Signs of Calcium Pyrophosphate Arthritis
Acute, subacute, or chronic arthritis can occur, usually in the knee, wrist, or other large peripheral joints; thus, calcium pyrophosphate crystal disease can mimic many other forms of arthritis. Acute flares are similar to gout but vary more in intensity, tend to be more protracted, and are often more difficult to treat. There may be no symptoms of CPP arthritis between flares or continuous low-grade symptoms in multiple joints, similar to rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. These patterns tend to persist for life. Crowned dens syndrome (with a radiographically "crowned" appearance of the odontoid process of the second cervical vertebra) is a presentation of acute CPP axial arthritis in which there can be profound inflammatory neck pain and stiffness. It can be mistaken for polymyalgia rheumatica, giant cell arteritis, seronegative spondyloarthritis, cervical osteomyelitis, or meningitis. 