REACTIVE ARTHRITIS WITH A SEVERE LESION OF THE CERVICAL-SPINE

Reactive arthritis, or Reiter's disease, characteristically affects th e joints of the lower limbs in an asymmetrical pattern. Usually it doe s not affect the cervical spine, and atlantoaxial subluxations are the exception. This paper describes the case of an HLA-B27-positive femal e patient with a sexually acquired reactive arthritis where a non-redu cible atlantoaxial subluxation was present. The patient was followed f rom age 27 to 41. By the age of 38, an anterior decompression of the c ervico-medullary junction was performed by a transoral approach; in a second stage, the patient underwent an occipito-cervical posterior fus ion. The pathological study revealed a non-specific and chronic inflam matory infiltrate.