[Articular manifestations of Yersinia infections. Apropos of 4 personal cases. Review of the literature].

The reactive arthritis due to Yersinia enterocolitica (YEC) have been know for a little more than ten years. A great many cases have been reported, especially by Scandinavian authors. In contrast, few cases have been reported in the course of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections (YPT). Analysis of 36 cases in the literature shows that although they are rare, the YPT reactive arthritis do exist and are not fundamentally different from those due to YEC. A few minor differences in their clinical signs have been demonstrated: the higher incidence of erythema nodosa and the lower incidence of cardiac involvement in the cases due to YPT. In both forms, there is a characteristic genetic predisposition, marked by the high incidence of the antigen HLB B27 (50 to 80 p. cent), which explains their strict relationship with diseases of the rheumatic pelvispondylitis group.