Introduction: Chronic chikungunya (CHIK) arthritis, an inflammatory arthritis, often follows acute CHIK fever (CHIKF), a viral infection. The pathogenesis of chronic CHIK arthritis is poorly characterized, but may resemble other forms of inflammatory arthritis. Clinically, chronic CHIK arthritis sometimes mimics rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Case report: We report a patient with well-characterized CHIKF followed 2 months later by chronic CHIK arthritis not only resembling RA clinically, but also associated with RA biomarkers and extra-articular features, including Felty's syndrome (FS).
Conclusions: We describe this patient's excellent response to methotrexate and discuss the implications her case provides in understanding this important emerging rheumatic disease.
Keywords: Chikungunya; Chronic chikungunya arthritis; Felty’s syndrome; Methotrexate; Rheumatoid arthritis.