Sometimes, the diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome may be difficult for the doctor as there is no particular laboratory test to confirm this disease. The Reiter’s syndrome may involve various body parts and cause the inflammation of joints, eyes, skin, genitals, bladder and mucus membranes. It can give rise to the symptoms of arthritis as well as prostatitis, cystitis, urethritis, cervicitis, skin sores or eye problems.
For the accurate diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome, a careful physical examination done by the doctor is essential which may help to rule out other reasons of arthritis. The diagnosis is generally based on the physical examination, symptoms and complete medical history of the patient. It is helpful to keep the records symptoms before and after seeing the doctor. The Reiter’s syndrome generally occurs after the sexually transmitted infections like HIV or Chlamydia, gastrointestinal or genitourinary infections. Hence, the doctor suggests some laboratory tests to detect the infections of Chlamydia, Salmonella, Shigella and Yersinia.
Various blood tests are prescribed by the doctor to determine the presence of antinuclear antibodies or rheumatoid arthritis. The results of these tests are usually normal in the Reiter’s syndrome, but may be positive in other forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis. In addition to these tests, the tests like erythrocyte sedimentation rate, HLA-B27 and some tests for detection of infections are also suggested.
The samples of cells from the throat, cervix in women or urethra in men are tested for detection of infections. Besides that, stool and urine samples are also tested to find out the gastrointestinal and genitourinary infections. X-ray findings can be advantageous for the diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome and to rule out some other causes of arthritis. Common findings in x-rays of the patients having the Reiter’s syndrome are sacroiliitis, spondylitis, cartilage damage, swelling of soft tissues and formation of bony spurs.
On the basis of diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome, various treatment options are applied such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroid injections, antibiotics and exercise. Most people having the Reiter’s syndrome generally completely recover from the initial flare of this disease and are able to perform regular activities within 2-6 months after the first appearance of symptoms. In such cases, the symptoms of arthritis are mild and may last up to 12 months. About 20% of people with Reiter’s syndrome may have mild chronic arthritis. Approximately 15-50% of people may develop the symptoms after the disappearance of initial flare.
