Arthritis at advanced age: a case of paraneoplastic arthritis who was followed-up with the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

While elderly onset arthritis frequently demonstrates degenerative features, the inflammatory arthritis should not be ignored. Paraneoplastic arthritis should be kept in mind during the etiological examination of inflammatory arthritis. Paraneoplastic arthritis, or carcinomatous polyarthritis, is a rare condition, and it may precede the clinical manifestation before being diagnosed, without the cancer becoming symptomatic. There is a lack of defined diagnostic algorithm to diagnose paraneoplastic arthritis in the elderly onset arthritis. This may cause significant difficulties in differential diagnosis and delays in the early treatment of cancer. In this article, we present the case of a patient with paraneoplastic arthritis, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis after two years of follow-up, and we discuss the clinical features of paraneoplastic arthritis at an advanced age.