Reactive Arthritis (Reiter's Syndrome)
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Reactive arthritis
Sterile, inflammatory arthritis
- Reactive arthritis is a sterile, inflammatory arthritis that occurs 1 to 4 weeks post a nongonococcal gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection, typically in young adults 20 to 40 years old. It's typically self-limited but can last months and or be recurrent and chronic and require long-term immunosuppression.
Classic Triad
- There is the following classic clinical triad: conjunctivitis (can't see), urethritis (can't pee), arthritis (can't bend the knee). Although the triad is classic, these three features only occur together in roughly one-third of patients.
HLA-B27
- HLA-B27 confers increased risk of getting the disease.
Infectious Cause
- About half of the time and infectious triggers is unable to be identified, when it is, the most common infectious cause of reactive arthritis are as follows:
- Gastrointestinal: Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Campylobacter
- Urogenital: Chlamydia
On "Reiter's syndrome"
- The term "Reiter's syndrome" is not longer used due to its relation to the individual it was named after. See the following article for details: Reiter's syndrome