Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a diverse collection of seven chronic arthritides that afflict children under the age of 16. For a case series, researchers describe the features of individuals diagnosed with JIA at a single center when they were younger than 12 months old. Patients who attended the rheumatology clinic for JIA with symptoms onset less than a year ago were included in the study. A chart review was performed in order to complete case report forms containing demographics, history features, examination features, laboratory findings, imaging data, and therapy courses.
Researchers found 12 patients that matched the inclusion criteria. They had 8 patients with oligoarticular JIA, three with polyarticular JIA, and one with systemic JIA. At their initial visit, 58% (7/12) of patients experienced joint contractures. To achieve disease remission in patients with oligoarticular JIA, 50% (4/8) required a disease-modifying antirheumatic medication; 12.5% (1/8) required biologic treatment. Antinuclear antibodies were strongly positive in all polyarticular JIA patients, as were inflammatory indicators.
Children with infantile JIA were generally comparable to the general group of patients with JIA. The severity of the disease may not differ from that of older children with JIA; nevertheless, there was a long delay in diagnosis and the appearance of contractures, which happened in more than half of the patients.
