Clinical Aspects of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Extended Experience from Bangladesh

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the different clinical aspects of JIA patients as well as the disease activity status during follow-up period. This study also compared its findings with the previous baseline study done in our country. Methodology: A prospective observational study carried out in the department of pediatrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the study period of January 2004 to December 2012. A total of 415 patients according to ILAR criteria were enrolled in the study. Patients who completed a 2 year follow-up period were assessed for disease activity status according to Wallace criteria. Data was collected in a predesigned questionnaire. Results: Among the 415 cases, M: F ratio was approximately 2:1. Age range of the patients was 14 months to 16 years. Highest number of patients were present in the age group 11-16 years (49%) followed by 6-10 years. The duration of illness was more than 12 months in the majority. Polyarticular RF negetive patients were most frequent (33%), followed by persistent oligo-arthritis (28 %). Among the patients who completed at least 2 years of follow-up, 68% achieved remission, of them 51% maintained remission and 16.3% had relapse. Conclusion: Late diagnosis with long duration of disease was still common. Clinical profile of this study was almost similar to our previous study but differed from western JIA cases mainly in term of sex, subtypes and duration of illness. Majority of the patients went into remission. Wrong diagnosis was gradually decreasing and it seems that awareness about JIA is gradually increasing among the medical professionals in our country.

The Pattern of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in a Single Tertiary Center in Saudi Arabia

“…The mean age of onset of JIA symptoms in our patients was 7.11 ± 3.65 years (range: 8 months–14.5 years), which is not largely different from most studies [9, 14, 25, 27, 28]. However it is higher than the mean age in a large study which included 3167 patients from Europe and Latin America where mean age of onset of JIA symptoms was 5.8 years [21] but lower than a mean age of 9.5 years recorded in a cohort from Taiwan of 195 patients [22].…”

“…Few studies showed an overall equal or higher male-to-female ratio [4, 6, 15, 25, 26]; this higher male percentage was possibly related to a higher ERA in one series [3, 25]. …”

Efficacy and safety of tofacitinib in the treatment of refractory cases of polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A study from Bangladesh

“…In this prospective observational study, there was male predominance. Similar results with male predominance was found in few other studies done in our country 18‐20 . The reason for male predominance in our country could be due to male preferences in all aspects in family and society.…”

“…Similar results with male predominance was found in few other studies done in our country. [18][19][20] The reason for male predominance in our country could be due to male preferences in all aspects in family and society. Another reason for higher male frequency could be due to higher percentage of ERA (37%) in this study.…”

Serum homocysteine level in children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

“…A prospective observational study carried out in the same set up also found more males than females (M:F ratio approximately 2:1), and most of the patients were in the age group of 11-15 years. 13 This different result regarding sex distribution and types of JIA found in this study could be due to social or geographical difference. In the present study, maximum number of patients were suffering from ERA (32.0%), followed by SJIA, polyarticular and oligo articular JIA (figure 1).…”