Keratoderma blenorrhagica following Reiter's disease; report of a case successfully treated with massive doses of penicillin.

A man aged 43 years, who was admitted to this hospital on Aug. 23, 1947, said that he had been quite well until 1938 when he was taken ill and treated in Coventry Hospital for acute rheumatism. Questioning, however, disclosed that the illness had consisted of conjunctivitis, -polyarthritis, and fever; there was no history of urethritis. After a year or so in hospital he was discharged with a completely immobile right knee and a fairly stiff left knee. After a period of physiotherapy he was able to return to work as a hairdresser in March 1941. He remained fairly well until 1943, when he noticed that his nails were beginning to show signs of a chronic infection and there were brownish, raised lesions developing on the soles of his feet. These became progressively worse and his general condition deteriorated slowly until his admission to this hospital. Apart from the lesions described, his only complaints were of general weakness, mnalaise, and pains in the back of the neck and both arms.