The association of urethritis, conjunctivitis and arthritis and cutaneous lesions is a syndrome not uncommonly produced by the gonococcus.
Forty-seven cases1 in which the gonococcus could not be found in relationship to this syndrome have been reported in the literature since 1912. The most recent article on this subject was one by Lever and Crawford,1 who reviewed the subject from its dermatologic aspects.
The triad of urethritis, conjunctivitis and arthritis, occurring in this order, in the absence of a gonococcic etiology, has come to be known as Reiter's disease.2 The syndrome parallels gonorrheal infection so closely that suspicion of the gonococcus is difficult to dispel.
Urethritis has been reported in all cases of this disease. The anterior and posterior urethra are involved, often with cystitis. It resembles the usual gonorrheal infection. For this reason it is difficult to recognize it apart from gonorrhea unless smears have been
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