INFLAMMATORY ARTHRITIS TYPICALLY presents as joint pain, swelling, and stiffness, which may be of short duration. For example, parvovirus B 19 infection, attended by painful polyarticular swelling, generally resolves spontaneously within 2 wk without joint destruction. Chronic manifestations of these diseases, however, typically represent a self-perpetuating hyperimmune, pathological phenomenon and yield progressive structural damage. Rheumatoid (RA) and psoriatic arthritis, in particular, are joint destructive consequent to chronic inflammation of the synovial membrane and its bone-associated ligaments and tendons.