Juvenile arthritis, also known as childhood arthritis, juvenile chronic arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, that can again be classified depending on the symptoms found within the first six months of diagnosis. The further classifications of juvenile arthritis are pauciarticular, polyarticular, systemic onset, spondyloarthropathy and psoriatic juvenile arthritis.
Previously the juvenile arthritis was referred to as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis but the term rheumatoid was dropped as part of the name because it leads people to believe this disease is similar to rheumatoid arthritis in adults, which it is very different from in terms of symptoms, course of the disease and future outlook of the disease. Pauciarticular type of juvenile arthritis affects less than four joints, usually the knee, ankle, elbow, or wrist and is the most common type of juvenile arthritis. Pauciarticular type of arthritis affects around 45% of children diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, very few of which develop general, or body-wide symptoms.
Pauciarticular type of juvenile arthritis sufferers rarely experience bone growth problems or deformed joints, which may be associated with other symptoms of juvenile arthritis. Some children with juvenile arthritis develop eye disorder and inflammation, known as uveitis, which can lead to blindness if it is not diagnosed and treated promptly. Pauciarticular juvenile arthritis can sometimes disappear within a few years, but most of the children will experience cycles of remission and flares for the rest of their life. Polyarticular juvenile arthritis affects mostly the girls and children with a huge age gap and it is rarely first diagnosed between ages of three and ten.
Polyarticular juvenile arthritis affects the children at minimum of their five joints at the same time, usually the small joints of the hands and feet, although the knee has been known to be affected as well. When the knee joint is affected by Polyarticular juvenile arthritis, the bones in the leg will begin to grow at different rates and one leg will become longer than the other. This disease can lead to arthritis in the hip or spine, which around half of all children diagnosed with this subtype of juvenile arthritis, will develop. Polyarticular juvenile arthritis appears with general symptoms, such as slight fever, decreased appetite and a slight rash. Polyarticular juvenile arthritis is usually become most severe in children who were primarily diagnosed after age 10 and they may test positive for rheumatoid factor. If a medical test shows positive for this marker, the child will more likely to develop deformed joints and many doctors consider this subtype of juvenile arthritis adult rheumatoid arthritis that occurs at an early age.
Systemic onset juvenile arthritis occurs in approximately 10% of juvenile arthritis patients and affects boys and girls equally. The initial symptoms of this type of arthritis are usually found with some type of infection, high fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss. Also sometimes children with this subtype of juvenile arthritis can develop more serious complications like inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart, inflammation of the heart itself and inflammation of the tissue lining the chest cavity and lungs. Children with this subtype of juvenile arthritis can often suffer from psoriasis and have pits or ridges on their fingernails and this type of arthritis often disables the child.
