A prospective necropsy study of arthritis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Thirty-two knee and 23 sternoclavicular joints from 35 subjects with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome were examined prospectively at necropsy. There were two instances of opportunistic infectious arthritis: one caused by Staphylococcus aureus, the other by Sporothrix schenckii. In five other subjects, para-articular bone was infiltrated by granulomatous or neoplastic sequelae of the human immunodeficiency virus infection. There was no immunohistochemical (p24 antigen) or other evidence for existence of a specific acquired immunodeficiency syndrome arthritis.