Description

The classic triad includes arthritis, conjunctivitis/iritis, and either urethritis or cervicitis (“can’t see; can’t pee; can’t bend my knee”).

• The epidemiology is similar to other reactive arthritides, characterized by sterile joint inflammation associated with infections originating at nonarticular sites. A fourth feature (dermatologic involvement) may include buccal ulceration, balanitis, or a psoriasiform skin eruption. (Having only two features does not rule out the diagnosis.)
• Two forms of Reiter syndrome:
  • Sexually transmitted: Symptoms emerge 7 to 14 days after exposure to Chlamydia trachomatis and other sexually acquired pathogens.
  • Postenteric infection (including traveler’s diarrhea)
• In individuals with new or frequent sexual partners, the triggering infection is likely sexually transmitted (rather than enteric).
• In individuals with a history of recent enteric illness, the triggering event is more likely to be a bacterial enteric infection than sexual transmission.
• System(s) affected: musculoskeletal, renal/urologic, dermatologic/exocrine
• Synonym(s): idiopathic blennorrheal arthritis; arthritis urethritica; urethro-oculo-synovial syndrome; Fiessinger-Leroy-Reiter disease; reactive arthritis

Pediatric Considerations
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has many of the same clinical features as Reiter syndrome.

Pregnancy Considerations
No special considerations; usual drug precautions

Epidemiology

Incidence

• Predominant age: 20 to 40 years
• Predominant sex: male > female
• 0.2–1% incidence after bacterial dysentery outbreaks
• Complicates 1–2% of nongonococcal urethritis cases
• ~3 to 5 cases per 100,000 individuals per year

Etiology and Pathophysiology

• The pathophysiology of all the seronegative reactive arthritis syndromes and the immunologic role of infectious diseases as precipitants for clinical illness are incompletely understood. Proinflammatory cytokines lead to synovitis. Toll-like receptors (TLR) have been implicated in the recognition of gram-negative lipopolysaccharide as part of the disease cascade.
• Avoiding precipitant infections and early management of multiorgan inflammation is important. Antibiotic treatment following onset of syndrome does not appear to benefit inflammatory joint, eye, or urinary tract symptoms.
• C. trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted infection associated with Reiter syndrome.
• Dysentery-associated Reiter syndrome follows infection with Shigella, Salmonella, Yersinia, and Campylobacter spp. Enteric-associated Reiter syndrome is more common in women, children, and the elderly than the postvenereal form.

Genetics
HLA-B27 tissue antigen present in 60–80% of patients, suggesting a genetic predisposition

Risk Factors

• New or high-risk sexual contacts 1 to 4 weeks before the onset of clinical presentation; the primary infection may be subclinical and undiagnosed.
• Food poisoning or bacterial dysentery

General Prevention

• The immune-response characteristics of this syndrome make avoidance of infectious precipitants the most important general precaution (and potentially the most difficult to achieve).
• Safe sexual practices; proper food and water hygiene

Commonly Associated Conditions

• Enteric disease
  • Shigellosis; Salmonellosis; Campylobacteriosis
  • Enteric infection with Yersinia spp.
• Urogenital infection
  • Chlamydia urethritis/cervicitis (3)[C]
  • Mycoplasma or Ureaplasma spp.
• HIV/AIDS