title: Chronic arthritis in adolescence.
abstract: Musculoskeletal complaints, and joint pain in particular, are common symptoms among adolescents presenting to primary care providers. In this article, the distinction between arthralgia and arthritis is described, and important inflammatory arthropathies seen in teenagers are addressed. The current nomenclature of juvenile idiopathic arthritis is used to address each of the major clinical entities that account for chronic arthritis in teens, including oligoarthritis, polyarthritis, systemic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and spondyloarthropathy. Diagnostic criteria, important comorbidities, and principles of management are summarized with identification of antiinflammatory, immunosuppressive, and cytokine-specific biological agents and their relative uses. Other categories of chronic arthritis are also discussed, including infection-associated reactive arthritis, Lyme disease, joint disease of inflammatory bowel disease, as well as chronic arthritis as a dimension of other autoimmune diseases. In addition to the biomedical dimension of these disorders, the psychological impact and developmental context of persistent pain and musculoskeletal abnormality in adolescents are commented on.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology and Immunology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Avenue, PO Box 777, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. david_siegel@urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Siegel
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents