Polymyalgia rheumatica following intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin instillation: coincidence or true association? A case report and literature review

Abstract

We report the case of a 73-year-old male patient suffering from non muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who had violent pains in his neck and shoulders associated with general discomfort and fever, following the second intravesical instillation of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), with further worsening after the third instillation. During his hospitalization, laboratory tests showed a significant raise of inflammatory markers. An ultrasound (US) examination of his shoulders showed bilateral longhead-biceps exudative tenosynovitis and subdeltoid bursitis. An 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18-FDG PET) associated with total body computed tomography (CT) showed pathological inflammatory findings in neck and shoulders, with exclusion of pathological findings in other sites. Cystoscopy was negative for NMIBC recurrence. Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) was diagnosed and BCG instillations was stopped. The patient had fast improvement of clinical manifestations and laboratory tests, but when he resumed them a few weeks later, the same manifestations recurred.