Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
1. Big picture
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most important chronic inflammatory arthritis of childhood. For the exam, think:
Child <16 years + persistent arthritis >6 weeks + no other cause → JIA.
It is not one disease; it is a group of childhood inflammatory arthritides with different patterns: oligoarticular, polyarticular, systemic, enthesitis-related, psoriatic, and undifferentiated disease. The attached rheumatology question file emphasizes three classic exam points: JIA has several subtypes, may cause growth restriction, and may be associated with uveitis; it does not cause reduced mental development.
The examiner usually wants you to know:
- How to recognize arthritis in a child.
- The major JIA subtypes.
- Which children need uveitis screening.
- The stepwise treatment: NSAIDs/intra-articular steroids → methotrexate → biologics.
- The dangerous systemic complication: macrophage activation syndrome (MAS).
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