Reiter's syndrome in male sexual partners of females with Reiter's syndrome or suspicion of it.

With sexually transmitted rheumatic diseases in mind we investigated 37 male sexual partners of females with Reiter's syndrome (RS) or suspicion of RS (SRS). Controls were 219 randomly selected interviewed males. A history of urogenital involvements was found in 19/37 (51,4%) as compared to 65/219 (29,7%). Anamnestic nonspecific urethritis, dysuria, gonorrhoea, condylomata acuminata and prostatitis occurred more frequently in the 37 males than in the controls (p less than 0.05 - p less than 0.025). Six out of 37 as compared to 5 of 219 had a history of balanitis (p less than 0.0025). Anamnestic synovitis was found in 8/37 (21,6%) and in 9/219 (4,1%) (p less than 0.001) RS or SRS was diagnosed in 6/37 (16,2%). Taking into consideration the consecutive females with RS or SRS, whose sexual partners were not investigated, the theoretical counting still shows clear differences in the anamnestic occurrence of synovitis and balanitis between the 37 males and the controls (p less than 0.0125 - p less than 0.05). The results emphasize the important role of sexually acquired and maintained RS in rheumatology.