Fibromyalgia syndrome in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. (Periodical Report)

SOURCE: American Journal of Medicine, April 1992;92(4):368-374.

Arthritis is relatively rare in patients with HIV infection, but fibromyalgia is a common cause of musculoskeletal symptoms in this population, a prospective study shows.

Boston University Center for Arthritis researchers R.W. Simms and colleagues looked for symptoms of rheumatic disease in 140 HIV-infected patients at a municipal hospital clinic. The most common risk factor for HIV infection in these patients was intravenous drug use.

Simms et al. identified musculoskeletal symptoms in 37 of these 140 patients. Three of the 37 had arthritis although none had Reiter's syndrome or …