At the beginning, people show pin-sized dots with white plaque on them which constantly grow into flat, red areas hardly sourrounded by white plaque. Despite the visible symptoms, patients in nearly all cases do not suffer from burning or itching, nor does it smell strange. Due to its analogy to a fungal skin infection, balanitis circinata is often misdiagnosed as mycosis – especially in cases where patients have no other symptoms of reactive arthritis.
Cause
is characterized by nongonococcal urethritis, conjunctivitis, and arthritis. Reactive arthritisbelongs to the group of arthritides known as the spondyloarthritides. There are two main types of reactive arthritis: post-venereal and post-enteric. Chlamydia trachomatis is thought to be the most common cause of reactive arthritis, in general. Until recently, even the terminology for the condition itself was unclear as multiple eponyms and names have been associated with reactive arthritis. In recent years, a great deal has been learnt about the epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment of reactive arthritis and chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis, specifically. Prospective epidemiologic data suggest that chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis is underdiagnosed. Other truths being actively revealed include data suggesting that the pathogen itself might play an equally important role, or perhaps even more important, than the host with disease susceptibility; asymptomatic chlamydial infections might be a common cause of reactive arthritis and the two variants of reactive arthritis might respond differently to treatment in spite of the congruent clinical presentation. However, much about this syndrome remains shrouded in mystery. Recent data has been suggesting that Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis might be a common condition that clinicians are simply failing to recognise. Therefore, an emphasis is placed on disease awareness since viable treatment options are emerging.
Treatment
Balanitis circinata is one out of multiple manifestations of the reactive arthritis. Right now, topical corticosteroid therapy is the most commonly used treatment, and topical calcineurin inhibitors have also been used successfully. Newer tests on patients showed that a less harmful off-label topical treatment with the immunomodulatorpimecrolimus or the immunosuppressanttacrolimus can prevent all visible symptoms of this disease. Since reactive arthritis cannot be healed as such, affected people are forced to a continuous topical treatment – otherwise they will again note first symptoms after three to four days without it. However, strong debates and controversies continue regarding the exact indications of immunomodulators like pimecrolimus and their duration of use in the absence of active controlled trials. A study released in 2015 did not find any evidence that pimecrolimus could cause cancer.
