Acitretin and AIDS-related Reiter's disease

A patient with AIDS presented with Reiter's syndrome. Arthritis and skin lesions responded poorly to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and topical corticosteroid therapy. Dramatic improvement was seen 2 weeks after acitretine was added. When Reiter's syndrome recurred 11 months later despite treatment with highly active anti-retroviral drugs and an undetectable plasmatic viral load, acitretin without NSAID or topical treatment was again administered and was rapidly effective.