reiter's syndrome

Main Entry: Rei·ter's syndrome
Pronunciation: 'rIt-&rz-
Function: noun
: a disease that is usually initiated by infection in geneticallypredisposed individuals and is characterized usually by recurrence of arthritis, conjunctivitis, and urethritis called also Reiter's disease
Reiter, Hans Conrad Julius(1881–1969), German bacteriologist. Reiter had a career both as a professor of hygiene at several German universities and as a government public health official. While serving with theGerman forces during World War I, he discovered the causative organism of Weil's disease. During the war he treated his first patient suffering from a disease marked by urethritis, conjunctivitis, andarthritis. This disease is now known as Reiter's syndrome. He published reports of his field hospital discoveries in 1916. He identified, named, and investigated the spirochete of the genusTreponema (T. pallidum) that causes syphilis in humans, and his discovery of a specific antigen for it led to his development of a complement-fixation test for syphilis. He also describedthe entoptic symptoms of digitalis intoxication and wrote an important monograph on the use of vaccines.

Reiter's syndrome Reit·er's syndrome (rī'tərz)
n.
A triad of disorders that can appear consecutively or concurrently and include inflammation of the urethra, the iris and ciliary body, and the joints. Also called Reiter's disease.