Reiter's syndrome: evaluation of proposed criteria.

Clinical entities in the seronegative spondyloarthropathies329 are difficult to delineate and overlap considerably. Classifying Reiter's syndrome (RS) in particular is handicapped by the sporadic occurrence of the endemic disease, the transient nature of the disease in many cases, and the need for relatively long follow-up to establish the presence of x-ray changes. The presence of HLA-B27 has not contributed to resolving the problem for RS any more than it has for ankylosing spondylitis.37 Thus, in a first attempt, the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) Diagnostic and Therapeutic Criteria Committee has evaluated typical cases from seven university-based arthritis centres retrospectively in an attempt to develop diagnostic criteria for RS.