HLA-B27 associated reactive spondyloarthropathies in a Dutch military hospital

Forty-two male patients with reactive spondyloarthropathies in a Dutch military hospital are described with mean age of onset 21.9 years. Peripheral arthritis or sacroiliitis was present in all, eye symptoms in 21 (50%), and genitourinary disease in 15 (35.7%). Evidence of antecedent sexually acquired or enterocolitic infection was found only in three (7.2%). HLA-B27 antigen was detected in 34 (81%) of 42 patients. Additional data suggest that reactive spondyloarthropathies are the most common form of inflammatory arthritis in young men.