[Juvenile spondyloarthropathies: descriptive study of 40 patients].
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of children with spondyloarthropathies diagnosed in our unit.


METHODS
We analyzed the patients with SEA syndrome, undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy, psoriatic arthritis, arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease and reactive arthritis with onset symptoms before the age of 16.


RESULTS
Forty patients were diagnoses as suffering from spondyloarthropathy (29 boys and 11 girls). Eight presented a SEA syndrome, 8 undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy, 8 psoriatic arthritis, 6 arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease and 10 with reactive arthritis. No patient met ankylosing spondylitis criteria. In ten children the initial diagnosis was chronic juvenile arthritis. The articular disease had a relapsing and remitting course in one third of the patients. Almost 50% had only one episode and 7 patients had one prolonged course. In general, the functional outcome was good.


CONCLUSIONS
Juvenile spondyloarthropathies are a group of rheumatic diseases with common clinical characteristics and differ from chronic juvenile arthritis. Their early recognition is important with regard to treatment and prognosis.
García-Consuegra Molina
J
J
Unidad de Reumatología Pediátrica, Hospital Infantil La Paz, Madrid.
Merino Muñoz
R
R
Fernández Revuelta
S
S
Soler Balda
C
C
D001168:Arthritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
Espondiloartropatías juveniles: estudio descriptivo de 40 pacientes.