Agranulocytosis in Felty’s syndrome: a case from clinical practice

Differential diagnosis of articular syndrome is one of the leading issues of primary medical sanitary care. Timely and correct diagnosis of rheumatic diseases made by an internist in an out-patient setting is a cornerstone of successful treatment and prevention of possible complications. The masks of clinical course, subtle symptoms, as well as pathomorphosis of the disease make the accurate diagnosis difficult to establish. Among rheumatic diseases more and more often isolated hematological manifestations are observed on the onset of the disease. Among them the leading place is taken by Felty’s syndrome. Being a form of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, it is often associated with cytopenia. The aim of the article is to draw attention to the problem of timely diagnosis of Felty’s syndrome. The presented clinical case of Felty’s syndrome with agranulocytosis was based on clinical, laboratory, instrumental data obtained on examination of a patient. The features of the course, diagnostic methods and treatment methods of the pathology are discussed. The treatment efficacy of corticosteroids and cytostatics, similarities in clinical presentation and course of the syndrome with lymphoproliferative diseases and liver cirrhosis are presented. According to the obtained data a conclusion was made about the need for early diagnosis and complex examination in case of Felty’s syndrome for successful treatment of the nosology.