Clinical features and followup study of HLA-B27 positive patients presenting with peripheral arthritis.

A comparison was made between HLA-B27 positive patients with peripheral arthritis and patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The distribution of peripheral joint involvement in HLA-B27 positive seronegative arthritis was not the same as that in AS; significant differences were also noted in the sex ratio and incidence of uveitis. Followup of the patients with peripheral arthritis revealed that 25% had developed a further criterion for Reiter's syndrome, 45% had persistent seronegative arthritis and in 55% the arthritis had resolved.