Reiter’s syndrome is a form of arthritis first discovered by Hans Reiter, a physician in the German army during the World War II.  He described the classical symptoms of the disorder that as arthritis, redness of the eyes, and urinary tract signs. Further investigations and research led the doctors to believe that Reiter’s syndrome is termed as a seronegative spondyloarthropathic disease as it is one of those disorders that lead to irritation and soreness in various body parts. The typical areas of the body mostly affected by this disease are the parts of the spinal joints where bones attach to tendons. Reiter’s syndrome is also known as reactive arthritis since the progression of arthritis evolves as a reaction to some form of infection in some other part of the body. This infection may be typically related to the urogenital or the digestive tract.

Diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome is not easy since the symptoms of this ailment may appear and reappear periodically. Many a times, patients may not even notice typical symptoms of the disease. Hence, no particular test has been identified that confirms the presence of this disease, rather a combination of tests is conducted in order to determine the presence or absence of reactive arthritis.  A visit to a rheumatologist will begin the diagnosis procedure. The doctor will study the patient’s complete medical history as well as family history to determine any previous appearance of the typical symptoms of this disease. Thus, it is important for a patient to report any flu-like symptoms, like fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, since they indicate the beginning of an infection.

Diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome starts with blood tests that are conducted in order to confirm a suspected case of this ailment. Tests may be done to determine the presence of rheumatoid factor or antinuclear antibodies. The results of this test are crucial in determining the progression of this disease since patients with reactive arthritis will test normal for such a test. Doctors may decide upon the necessity to determine the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or sed rate, which is the rate at which the RBCs settle down at the bottom of a test tube of blood. An increased sed rate is indicative of inflammation in the body, thus acting as a vital clue for testing the presence of reactive arthritis. Doctors may even perform a test to determine the presence of HLA-B27.

The diagnosis of Reiter’s syndrome includes tests for infections of the digestive or the urogenital tract. Patients are commonly tested for a Chlamydia infection for the reason that new studies have shown that an early treatment in the case of Chlamydia-induced Reiter’s syndrome may help in improving the course of the disease. The synovial fluid may be removed from the joint affected by arthritis in order to determine the presence of infection. Doctors may even use X-rays to help determine the presence of reactive arthritis. Common findings on X rays of patients include spondylitis, sacroiliitis, swelling of soft tissues, damage to the cartilage, and bone deposits in places the tendons are attached to the bone.