This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Take the CME quiz:
 Vol. 20 No. 1, July 2008
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Li, S. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Li, S. C.

AAP Grand Rounds 20:8-9 (2008)
© 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics

RHEUMATOLOGY

Presenting Features of Systemic Onset JRA

Source: Behrens EM, Beukelman T, Gallo L, et al. Evaluation of the presentation of systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: data from the Pennsylvania Systemic Onset Juvenile Arthritis Registry (PASOJAR). J Rheum. 2008;35(2):343–348.[Medline]

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.


PICO

Question: In patients with systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed by a pediatric rheumatologist, what are the common initial presenting symptoms and laboratory findings?

Question type: Descriptive

Study Design: Descriptive case series

 

Authors from three pediatric rheumatology centers in Pennsylvania (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Pennsylvania State University Hershey Medical Center) sought to characterize the clinical and laboratory features at presentation of systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (systemic onset JRA) to improve the accuracy of diagnosis.

Participating institutions identified patients with a diagnosis of systemic onset JRA seen at their clinic from 1990 to 2005 from their individual patient databases. Patients were included based on the diagnosis of systemic onset JRA made by an attending pediatric rheumatologist. Data from the first encounter with the rheumatologist were collected (regardless of whether systemic onsetJRA criteria were met at that time).

A total of 136 patients were included in the analysis. Similar numbers of girls and boys were affected with about half of the patients presenting between the ages of zero to five years. Most patients were Caucasian (82%) and 14% were African American, mirroring the racial pattern of the state’s population. Fever (98%), arthritis (88%), rash (81%), and lymphadenopathy (31%) were . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Suzanne C. Li, MD, PhD, FAAP
Pediatrics, Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, HUMC, Hackensack, NJ