Symptoms | Reactive Arthritis

Symptoms

The clinical picture of reactive arthritis usually appears two to six weeks after infection. Arthritis as an inflammation of the joints is mainly located in the legs (knee and ankle joints), less frequently in the finger and toe joints. In the majority of cases, reactive arthritis presents an asymmetrical picture, i.e.

the same joints on both sides are not affected in parallel, e.g. only one knee joint. Often only one joint is affected (monarthritis). The inflammation manifests itself in the form of pain, swelling, reddening, overheating and reduced mobility.

Stiffness of the joints occurs mainly in the morning and is then called morning stiffness. In some cases, unspecific complaints can accompany the arthritis picture, such as fever, fatigue and a general feeling of illness. In addition, inflammation of the tendon attachments or tendon sheaths (enthesopathy, tendovaginitis), inflammation of the sacroiliac joint (sacroiliitis) or involvement of internal organs (heart, kidney) can also occur. In 30% of patients suffering from reactive arthritis, there are other symptoms which together form Reiter’s syndrome.This includes: If the first three symptoms exist, one speaks a rider triad, if the dermatosis is added, one calls this a rider tetrade.

  • Reactive Arthritis
  • Urethritis = inflammation of the urethra
  • ConjunctivitisIritis = conjunctivitisRegenbogenhautentzündung (on the eye)
  • Reiter’s dermatosis = skin changes on the genital mucosa (balanitis circinata), on palms of hands and soles of feet (keratoma blennorrhagicum) or on the whole body (similar to psorias), aphthae of the oral mucosa

Diagnosis

Reactive arthritis is first diagnosed by taking the patient’s medical history and clinical symptoms. This is supplemented by the laboratory, which includes inflammation values (CRP, BSG) and HLA-B27. In addition, if reactive arthritis is suspected, an attempt can be made to detect the initial infection by means of PCR (polymerase chain reaction), culture (cultivation of the pathogen) or serology (antibody detection), although this is usually healed by the time the diagnosis is made and a positive result can therefore no longer be obtained. Other causes can be excluded by means of imaging procedures (X-ray, CT, MRT, ultrasound).