Childhood arthritis

Childhood arthritis, also known as juvenile arthritis (JA), is any form of arthritis or arthritis-related conditions which affects individuals under the age of 16. Juvenile arthritis is a chronic, autoimmune disease affecting approximately 294,000–250,000 children and teens making juvenile arthritis one of the most common childhood diseases in the US. Three classifications of juvenile arthritis exist—juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA), and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) of which, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is the most common.

Three main types of JRA exist and classification is based upon symptoms, number of joints involved and the presence of antibodies in the blood. Polyarticular arthritis is the first type of arthritis, which affects about 30–40% of children with arthritis and is more common in girls than boys. Typically five or more joints are affected (usually smaller joints such as the hands and feet but many also affect the hips, neck, shoulders and jaw). Oligoarticular (pauciarticular) arthritis can be early or late onset and is the second type of arthritis, affecting about 50% of children with juvenile arthritis. This type affects fewer than four joints (usually the large joints such as knees, ankles or wrists) and may cause eye inflammation in girls with positive anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA). Girls younger than eight are more likely to develop this type of arthritis.Systemic is the final classification of JRA, where 10–20% of children (boys and girls equally) are affected with limited movement, swelling and pain in at least one joint. A common symptom of this type of arthritis is a high, spiking fever of 103 °F (39.4 °C) or higher, lasting for weeks or months, and a rash of pale red spots on the chest, thighs or other parts of the body may also be visible.