A 4-year-old girl with seronegative systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis developed acute cardiac tamponade. Pericardiocentesis and systemic corticosteroids resulted in complete recovery of the pericardial involvement. This was followed by complete remission of rheumatoid disease.

An analysis of age of onset in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis was performed in the last 300 children seen in our clinic. There was a peak age of onset in girls at 1 to 3 years. Distribution of age of onset in boys was bimodal with the first peak at 2 years of age and the second at 9 years. There was no accentuation of frequency in either sex in the 10- to 14-year age group. The distribution of a...

OBJECTIVE To determine the population incidence of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) in Quebec. METHODS We obtained data from Quebec's physician claims database. Incident cases were defined as having a visit for JRA in 2000, no visit in the previous 3 years, a confirmed diagnosis by an arthritis specialist, or having >/= 2 visits to any physician for JRA, >/= 2 months apart but within 2 yea...

Two questionnaires were developed for measuring disability due to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), one based on patient reports and one on parent reports. These questionnaires were termed the Juvenile Arthritis Functional Assessment Report for Children (JAFAR-C) and for Parents (JAFAR-P). The questionnaires were administered to 72 JRA patients ages 7-18 years and to their parents. Responden...

In recent years, there have been many new developments in the field of regulatory T cells (Treg), challenging the consensus on their behaviour, classification and role(s) in disease. The role Treg might play in autoimmune disease appears to be more complex than previously thought. Here, we discuss the current knowledge of regulatory T cells through animal and human research and illustrate the r...

OBJECTIVES To describe consultation with an arthritis specialist because of suspected new-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and to determine factors associated with prompt consultation. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Physician reimbursement administrative data were obtained for all children aged 16 years or younger in the Province of Québec (Canada). PARTICIPANTS Suspe...

OBJECTIVE To determine the degree to which mothers of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) show an overprotective or highly controlling interaction style. METHOD We videotaped 84 mother-child pairs (42 JRA and 42 healthy, ages 6 to 13) while working on a collaborative problem-solving task. Based on physical therapy evaluations, children in the JRA group were assigned to "more sev...

Parents of 135 children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) completed a mailed questionnaire about problems at school. Writing was the most frequently reported difficulty, with hand involvement causing more problems than decreased mobility. Compared to children with pauciarticular JRA, those with polyarticular or systemic JRA were significantly more likely to miss school, experience proble...

The prevalence of homozygous and heterozygous deficiency of the second component of complement (C2) was determined in patients with rheumatic disease including 137 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 274 with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and 134 with rheumatoid arthritis. 1 C2 homozygous deficient and 19 possible heterozygous deficient individuals were identified by using both immunochem...

Raised serum IgG and IgM antibody levels to native type II collagen were found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in patients with juvenile chronic arthritis. There was a good correlation between the serum IgG and the IgM antibody levels in rheumatoid arthritis and a weaker correlation in juvenile chronic arthritis. Raised serum IgM antibody levels to native type II collagen were found i...