title: HLA-B27 in juvenile chronic arthritis.
abstract: The prevalence of HLA-B27 in 88 patients with juvenile chronic arthritis was 22/88 (25%) with little variation among the 3 commonly recognized onset types. This was significantly more frequent than the prevalence of 9.4% in a Danish reference population. A strong association was found between the HLA-B27 antigen and 3 subgroups of patients: (1) boys with pauciarticular and late onset disease; (2) girls with apophyseal joint fusion; (3) a group of patients in whom the clinical picture was compatible with reactive arthritis or incomplete Reiter's syndrome. When these 3 subgroups were excluded from the total patient population, only 8 of the remaining 63 patients carried the B27 antigen, i.e., 13%, which was not significantly different from the prevalence in the reference population. Thus, the 3 subgroups account completely for the increase of B27 in the entire group of patients.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001168:Arthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen