Valvular heart disease is a rare complication of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), with most cases associated with polyarticular JRA. The aortic valve is most commonly affected, and valvular involvement occurs months or years after the onset of JRA. Reported cases of valvular heart disease in patients with JRA in a pauciarticular pattern are rare. We report a case of severe aortic insufficie...

Etanercept is an effective inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor that has shown a beneficial effect in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) that did not respond to other disease-modifying drugs. Here we report 3 patients with JRA who were refractory to traditional therapy; 1 with systemic JRA and 2 with polyarticular JRA. They received etanercept 0.4 mg/kg (maximum 25 mg) subcutaneous...

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is the most common rheumatic childhood disease; its onset is before 16 years of age and it persists for at least 6 weeks. JRA encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases that is classified according to 3 major presentations: oligoarthritis, polyarthritis, and systemic onset diseases. These presentations may originate from the same or different causes that i...

OBJECTIVE To assess parental distress, family functioning, and social support among parents of children with a lifetime diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and comparison families. METHODS Parents of 64 children with JRA (64 mothers, 46 fathers) completed questionnaires and in-home interviews along with 64 matched comparison families. Average time since diagnosis for children wit...

Abstract Early reanalyses are less than optimal for investigating the regional effects of ozone depletion on Southern Hemisphere (SH) high-latitude climate because availability satellite sounder data from 1979 significantly improved their accuracy in sparse regions, leading to a coincident inhomogeneity. To determine whether current better at SH high-latitudes pre-satellite era, here we examine...

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a major inflammatory cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Etanercept, approved in the United States and in Europe for use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and JRA, is an effective inhibitor of TNF that has been shown to provide rapid and sustained improvement in both diseases. Here we report the preliminary result...

A coupled atmosphere–ocean data assimilation system, the Meteorological Research Institute-Coupled Data Assimilation System Version 1 (MRI-CDA1), was developed based on general circulation model and separate atmosphere ocean analysis routines operated by Japan Agency (JMA). To implement assimilation, 6-hr cycles with in outer loop are adopted atmospheric whereas incremental updates 10-day assim...

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) comprises a group of chronic systemic inflammatory disorders that primarily affect joints and can cause long-term disability. JRA is likely to be a complex genetic trait, or a series of such traits, with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to the risk for developing the disease and to its progression. The HLA region on the short arm of chromos...

OBJECTIVES To examine referral patterns from primary care physicians for children with pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and to determine whether children with pauciarticular JRA referred to pediatric rheumatologists differ in clinical presentation from children referred to other specialists. DESIGN A retrospective records review of 49 patients with pauciarticular jRA was per...

Defective regulation of apoptosis may play a role in the development of autoimmune diseases. Fas and Bcl-2 proteins are involved in the control of apoptosis. The aims of this study were to determine the expression of Fas antigen and Bcl-2 protein on peripheral blood T and B lymphocytes from patients with juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and...