Charcot Joint

―History, Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment―

Abstract

A review of the literature of Charcot joints is made including history, clinical manifestation, incidences, clinical course, pathologic findings, x-ray findings, differential diagnosis and treatments. The most common original disease of Charcot joints is tabes dorsalis, followed by diabetes mellitus, syringomyelia and congenital insensitivity to pain. Steroid induced destructive arthropathies are also included under Charcot joints. Pathogenesis of Charcot joints is considered as a repetitive trauma to the joints which have no great pain sensation due to spinal cord or peripheral nerve lesions. Relationship between the sites of Charcot joints and original diseases is as follows: foot lesions are almost always due to diabetes mellitus; knee lesions, almost always due to tabes dorsalis, and shoulder lesions, almost always due to syringomyelia.