OBJECTIVES
To characterize the epidemiology and clinical course of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis (JIA-U) in the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Registry and explore differences between African American (AA) and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) children.
METHODS
There were 3,967 NHW and AA children with JIA enrolled in the CARRA Registry. Demographic and disease-related data were collected from time of diagnosis to enrollment. Children with JIA alone were compared to those with JIA-U. Children with JIA-U were then compared by race.
RESULTS
Mean age of children with JIA-U was 11.4 years (±4.5), 76.9% were female and 2.8% were AA. Children with JIA-U were younger at arthritis onset, female, required more medications, had <5 joints involved, had oligoarticular JIA, and ANA (+), RF (−) and anti-CCP (−). AA children with JIA-U had decreased uveitis frequency, were older at arthritis onset and more frequently diagnosed with enthesitis-related JIA. Predictors of uveitis development include female gender, early age of arthritis onset, and oligoarticular persistent and extended JIA classification, whereas polyarticular RF-positive JIA was protective.
CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of JIA-U in AA and NHW children is 11.6% in the CARRA registry. Known risk markers (ANA, age at arthritis onset, and oligoarticular JIA) were more frequent in our JIA-U cohort. AA children had a lower frequency of JIA-U. There were significant differences in age of arthritis onset and JIA subtype between NHW and AA children, although the ANA, RF and HLA-B27 were similar. Exploration of race as a risk factor should be considered.