Abstract
The accumulation of amyloid in many organs of patients with multiple myeloma has been well documented, but much less attention has been directed to the presence of amyloid material in joints and in the substance of the skeleton itself. The present report is that of three patients with multiple myeloma in whom the clinical findings of amyloid arthropathy developed. Amyloid infiltration in and about the joints was so extensive as to simulate the findings of rheumatoid arthritis. In two of them, the articular manifestations were present for several months prior to the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. The delay of the diagnosis resulted in the development of a fatal complication of multiple myeloma, renal failure, which was not always unavoidable. Due to the fact that amyloid arthropathy is a rare manifestation of systemic amyloidosis and simulates rheumatoid arthritis, its diagnosis may be easily overlooked.
