4 Interesting Facts of Reactive Arthritis
1. Reactive arthritis (ReA) is a sterile inflammatory arthritis, typically preceded by a gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection occurring 1 to 4 weeks prior.
2. Similar to other spondyloarthropathies, patients with ReA are more likely to be HLA-B27-positive, which portends a worse prognosis and more joint and extraarticular manifestations.
3. Long-term antibiotics may help chronic Chlamydia -induced ReA but does not affect the course of ReA associated with enteric pathogens.
4. Over 50% of patients have a self-limited course lasting 3 to 5 months, 30% have recurrent episodes, and 15% to 20% have a chronic course requiring immunosuppressive therapy.
Reactive Arthritis is a sterile inflammatory synovitis occurring within 4 weeks of an infection elsewhere in the body, primarily urogenital or enteric infections.
The arthritis is typically an asymmetric oligoarthritis that predominantly involves large lower extremity joints.
The causative organism cannot be cultured from fluid in the joint cavity; however in recent years it has been shown that antigens of the triggering microbe can be detected in the synovial fluid or synovial tissue of the affected joints.
ReA patients are frequently HLA-B27-positive and commonly exhibit systemic symptoms with unique extraarticular manifestations including skin, eye, and enteropathy features.
