REACTIVE ARTHRITIS AFTER CAT BITE - A RARE MANIFESTATION OF CAT-SCRATCH DISEASE - CASE-REPORT AND OVERVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a rarely recognized infectious disease in Germany. Only a few years ago the causative agent, Bartonella hensela e, could be isolated. The typical clinical manifestations of CSD consi st of skin changes at the inoculation site and a benign lymphadenopath y; other manifestations are rare. We report the case of a 47 year old woman, who developed a reactive spondyl-arthropathy with synovitis of finger joints, polyarthralgias of large- and medium-sized joints, and inflammatory spinal pain after a cat bite. The rheumatic manifestation s resolved after 10 months by treatment with non-steroidal antirheumat ic drugs. Only a few cases of rheumatic manifestations associated with CSD have been described in the literature. Because the prevalence of Bartonella henselae infection of cats is high in Europe, rheumatic man ifestations might be more frequent. Diagnosis of CSD is now improved b y the development of serological tests. We provide an overview of the clinical manifestations and the diagnostic criteria.