Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic disease characterized by persistent joint inflammation. Typical symptoms of arthritis are pain, swelling and limitation of movement.
What are the causes of the disease?
Chronic arthritis is believed to be the result of our immune system losing the capacity to separate the foreign from its own cells and developing an abnormal response to attack its own joint elements. For this reason, JIA and others like it are called “autoimmune” diseases, meaning diseases caused by the immune system damaging its own body's organs.
How is it diagnosed?
JIA is considered if the disease started before the age of 16 and lasted longer than 6 weeks and the causes are unknown. The term JIA includes all forms of persistent arthritis of unknown origin that occur in childhood. Different types of arthritis have been defined under the title of JIA.
What happens to the joints?
As the amount of synovial fluid in the joint increases, the synovial membrane surrounding the joint, which is normally very thin, thickens and fills with inflammatory cells. This causes swelling, pain and limited movement. A characteristic sign of arthritis is joint stiffness that occurs after prolonged rest. Joint stiffness is therefore seen especially in the mornings. If not treated properly, the synovial membrane can become very thick as a result of arthritis and various substances released from it can cause wear on the joint cartilage and bone.
Are there different types of the disease?
There are several different types of JIA. The distinction is made mainly according to the presence or absence of systemic findings such as fever, rash, pericarditis (inflammation of the heart membrane) and the number of joints involved (oligoarticular or polyarticular JIA). Systemic JIA is characterized by the presence of systemic findings in addition to arthritis. Arthritis, which is usually polyarticular (involving 5 or more joints), may occur at the beginning of the disease or appear later. The disease can affect children of all ages.
Polyarticular JIA is characterized by the involvement of 5 or more joints in the first 6 months of the disease, without the systemic findings mentioned above.
Oligoarticular JIA Systemic in the first 6 months of the disease It is characterized by the involvement of fewer than 5 joints without any symptoms. It involves large joints (knees and ankles) asymmetrically. Oligoarthritis usually begins before the age of 6 and is more common in girls.
Serious eye complications may develop in a significant portion of patients. The most important is the inflammation of the anterior part of the uvea, which is the layer surrounding the eye and contains its own vascular bed (anterior uveitis).
Read: 0
