Reiter's syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus infection

A 35-year-old Black male with a long history of intravenous drug abuse developed clinical manifestations of Reiter's syndrome, with significant joint and psoriasiform skin involvement. In addition, he had signs and symptoms compatible with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and had a positive HIV antibody test confirmed with Western blot testing. Although many dermatologic manifestations of HIV infection have been described, this is the first time that an association with Reiter's syndrome has been reported. Recently, the development of psoriasis in other patients with HIV infection has been described. Taken together, these occurrences suggest that the purported retroviral relationship with psoriasis and related dermatoses may warrant further examination.