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Reactive polyarthritis develops several weeks after ~1% of cases of nongonococcal urethritis and 2% of enteric infections, particularly those due to Yersinia enterocolitica, Shigella flexneri, Campylobacter jejuni, and Salmonella species. Only a minority of these patients have the other findings of classic reactive arthritis, including urethritis, conjunctivitis, uveitis, oral ulcers, and rash. Studies have identified microbial DNA or antigen in synovial fluid or blood, but the pathogenesis of this condition is poorly understood.
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Reactive arthritis is most common among young men (except after Yersinia infection) and has been linked to the HLA-B27 locus as a potential genetic predisposing factor. Patients report painful, asymmetric oligoarthritis that affects mainly the knees, ankles, and feet. Low-back pain is common, and radiographic evidence of sacroiliitis is found in patients with long-standing disease. Most patients recover within 6 months, but prolonged recurrent disease is more common in cases that follow chlamydial urethritis. Anti-inflammatory agents help relieve symptoms, but the role of prolonged antibiotic therapy in eliminating microbial antigen from the synovium is controversial.
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Migratory polyarthritis and fever constitute the usual presentation of acute rheumatic fever in adults (Chap. 352). This presentation is distinct from that of poststreptococcal reactive arthritis, which also follows infections with group A Streptococcus but is not migratory, lasts beyond the typical 3-week maximum of acute rheumatic fever, and responds poorly to aspirin.