OBJECTIVE To determine the rate of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) involvement and find factors associated with TMJ arthritis in a single-center cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS Retrospective analysis of all patients with JIA visiting the rheumatology clinic between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2006. Followup information was included until August 2008. A...

Introduction Methotrexate (MTX) is recommended for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with persistent oligoarticular course with high disease activity and features of poor prognosis or if they failed intraarticular glucocorticoid steroid injections following the 2011 ACR recommendations for the treatment of JIA. To date efficacy and safety of MTX for this JIA category have not be...

Objective To assess possible changes in leptin and ghrelin secretion due to etanercept in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Methods 50 patients with JIA and 16 age-matched controls were enrolled into this prospective, cross-sectional study. Serum leptin, total and acyl ghrelin were measured in addition to white blood cell (WBC) and lymphocyte counts. Results 25 patients received etanercept a...

BACKGROUND Advances in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treatment is promoting free disease survival. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) may emerge as an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Pulse wave velocity (PWV), a surrogate marker of arterial stiffness, and telomere length (TL) are considered as potential predictors of CVD and its outcomes. The study aim was to assess PWV, TL in a JIA...

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of vitamin D deficiency and/or insufficiency in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and to assess the relationship between vitamin D and disease activity. Sixty four patients with JIA, thirty six patients with FMF and one hundred healthy children were enrolled in this study. Vitamin D level...

We report herein the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation into the Korean language of the parent's version of two health related quality of life instruments. The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) is a disease specific health instrument that measures functional ability in daily living activities in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The Child Hea...

OBJECTIVE Our first objective was to compare plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients requiring methotrexate (MTX) treatment and healthy children. Our second aim was to evaluate the influence of low-dose (10-15 mg/m2/week) MTX treatment combined with folic acid supplementation (1 mg/d) or placebo on tHcy concentrations in JIA patients. ME...

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic inflammatory arthritis in children. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is an indicator of platelet size and has been investigated as an inflammation marker in several diseases. This study was designed to investigate the MPV values in patients with JIA and healthy subjects, and determine the correlation between MPV, C-reactive protein (CRP),...

The definition and management of "early arthritis" in children differ from those in adults because juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is markedly different from adult rheumatoid arthritis. Since a significant proportion of patients with JIA develop articular damage and enter adult life with persistently active disease, it is important to predict early in the disease course the long-term outcom...

Many studies show that Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is associated with early subclinical signs of atherosclerosis. Chronic inflammation per se may be an important driver but other known risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin insensitivity, a physically inactive lifestyle, obesity, and tobacco smoking may also contribute substantially. We performed a systematic review o...