Prognostic factors for the disease course and 8-year outcome in Nordic children with oligoarticular-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Suvi Peltoniemi,Marite Rygg,Anders Fasth,Marek Zak,Kristiina Aalto,Susan Nielsen,Lillemor Berntson,Troels Herlin,Ellen Nordal

doi:10.1186/1546-0096-12-s1-p3

Abstract

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) refers to chronic childhood arthritides of unknown aetiology with onset before the age of 16 and persisting for more than 6 weeks. According to ILAR criteria patients are divided into 7 categories of which oligoarthritis is the most common one in western countries. It is further distinguished into persistent and extended oligoarthritis depending on whether the disease is confined to four or fewer joints or it extends to more than four joints after the first 6 months of the illness. Earlier studies have proposed factors that could predict the severity in oligoarticular-onset JIA such as high initial erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and involvement of upper limb. However, more studies are needed for better and earlier identification of high-risk patients to prevent possible permanent damages.

Highlights

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) refers to chronic childhood arthritides of unknown aetiology with onset before the age of 16 and persisting for more than 6 weeks
212 of the 440 JIA patients included in the 8-year study had oligoarthritis (48.2%). 134 of them had persistent and 78 extended form
antinuclear antibodies (ANA) positivity, age at onset, family history of rheumatic diseases, nor high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in the initial period of the illness correlated to the number of affected joints in a statistically significant way

Summary

Introduction

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) refers to chronic childhood arthritides of unknown aetiology with onset before the age of 16 and persisting for more than 6 weeks. According to ILAR criteria patients are divided into 7 categories of which oligoarthritis is the most common one in western countries. It is further distinguished into persistent and extended oligoarthritis depending on whether the disease is confined to four or fewer joints or it extends to more than four joints after the first 6 months of the illness. Earlier studies have proposed factors that could predict the severity in oligoarticular-onset JIA such as high initial erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and involvement of upper limb. More studies are needed for better and earlier identification of high-risk patients to prevent possible permanent damages

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Results

Conclusion