Journal of clinical rheumatology : practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases
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Case Reports
Refractory sarcoid arthritis in World Trade Center-exposed New York City firefighters: a case series.
The objective of this study was to describe cases of sarcoid arthritis in firefighters from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) who worked at the World Trade Center (WTC) site. ⋯ Chronic inflammatory polyarthritis appears to be an important manifestation of sarcoidosis in FDNY firefighters with sarcoidosis and WTC exposure. Their arthritis is chronic and, unlike arthritis in non-WTC-exposed sarcoid patients, inadequately responsive to conventional oral disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, often requiring anti-tumor necrosis factor α agents. Further studies are needed to determine the generalizability of these findings to other groups with varying levels of WTC exposure or with other occupational/environmental exposures.