Screening for Gonococcal Arthritis

The sera of 995 patients admitted for the first time to the Rheumatism Foundation Hospital were screened for Neisserial antibodies with complement-fixation and immunofluorescence tests. Twelve sera were reactive in both tests. The mean age of the patients was 41 years with a range from 18 to 68 years. Two of the patients were males. Five patients had erosive rheumatoid arthritis, and they all had either a history of urinary tract infections or pyuria during the stay at the hospital. One male patient had an acute nonpurulent arthritis following a bacteriologically verified gonococcal infection. Five other patients had a similar type of arthritis, in one instance associated with pyuria. Finally, 1 patient had arthralgia after a urinary tract infection. The series differs from first-admission patients in general with respect to the frequency of acute transient arthritis and urinary tract infections.