Reactive arthritis

[Jason Yan]

Reactive arthritis is an acute spondyloarthropathy that often seems precipitated by an infection, usually genitourinary or gastrointestinal. Common manifestations include asymmetric arthritis of variable severity that tends to affect the lower extremities with sausage-shaped deformities of fingers or toes or both, constitutional symptoms, enthesitis, tendinitis, and mucocutaneous ulcers, including hyperkeratotic or crusted vesicular lesions (keratoderma blennorrhagicum). Diagnosis is clinical. Treatment involves nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and sometimes sulfasalazine or immunosuppressants.
Spondyloarthropathy associated with urethritis or cervicitis, conjunctivitis, and mucocutaneous lesions (previously called Reiter syndrome) is one type of reactive arthritis.