The Association between COVID-19 and Reactive Arthritis: A Systematic Review of Case Reports and Case Series

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INTRODUCTION: Reactive arthritis (ReA) is a joint inflammation that follows an infection at a distant site, often in the gastrointestinal or urogenital tract. Since the emergence of COVID-19 in January 2020, several case reports have suggested a relation between reactive arthritis and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), due to the novelty of the disease, most findings were reported in the form of case reports or case series, and a comprehensive overview is still lacking. METHODS: We searched PubMed/Medline and Embase to identify studies addressing the association between ReA and COVID-19. The following terms were used: ("Reactive Arthritis" OR "Post-Infectious Arthritis" OR "Post Infectious Arthritis") AND ("COVID-19" OR "SARS-CoV-2" OR "2019-nCoV"). RESULTS: , 2022, were included in this study. A wide range of ages was affected (mean 41.0, min 4 max 78), with a higher prevalence of males (61.0%) from 16 countries. The number and location of the affected joints were different in included patients, with a higher prevalence of polyarthritis in 41.5% of all cases. Cutaneous manifestations and visual impairments were found as the most common associated symptoms. Most patients (95.1%) recovered, with a mean recovery time of 24 days. Moreover, arthritis induced by COVID-19 seems to relieve faster than ReA, followed by other infections. CONCLUSION: ReA can be a possible sequel of COVID-19 infection. Since musculoskeletal pain is a frequent symptom of COVID-19, ReA with rapid onset can easily be misdiagnosed. Therefore, clinicians should consider ReA a vital differential diagnosis in patients with post-COVID-19 joint swelling. Additional studies are required for further analysis and to corroborate these findings.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.