[Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis]

Reactive arthritis is defined as arthritis of 1 or more joints, in association with infection at a distant site, but without the infective agent being found in the synovial fluid. Patients with Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection and articular disease, who do not fulfill the modified Jones criteria for diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever, have been classified as having poststreptococcal reactive arthritis. We describe 6 patients seen during the winter of 1991 who had various clinical presentations of poststreptococcal reactive arthritis. This condition is considered by some as a distinct disease, but by others as part of the spectrum of acute rheumatic fever.