title: Oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis among Saudi children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most frequent chronic inflammatory rheumatic condition in children. We aimed to describe the clinical and serological profile of Saudi patients with oligoarticular JIA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospital-based retrospective chart review of all children diagnosed with oligoarticular JIA and followed up at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between 1998 and 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the medical files of children with oligoarticular JIA and recorded the gender, age at presentation and diagnosis, clinical presentation, laboratory and radiological investigations, treatment administered, and disease complications. Descriptive statistics was performed using SPSS (version 20, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 37 patients with JIA, of which 24 (64.9%) were girls. The mean age of the patients at presentation was 6.9 years, while the mean age at diagnosis was 7.2 years. A total of 31 patients (83.8%) presented with joint pain, and 36 (97.3%) had a swelling; 19 patients (51.4%) had a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at first presentation (mean, 41.8 [25.4] mm/h). ANA was positive in 15 patients (40.5%). The following treatments were administered: naproxen in 37 patients (100%), intra-articular corticosteroids in 12 cases (32.4%), methotrexate in 14 patients (37.8%), and adalimumab in 5 patients (13.5%). During follow-up, the following were documented: limited range of motion (n=15; 40.5%), deformity (n=5.4%), contracture (n=1; 2.7%), leg-length discrepancy (n=9; 24.3%), and anemia (n=7; 18.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oligoarticular JIA is more frequent in females, and it shows a predilection for the knees. Initially, many patients presented with high ESRs, and they were antinuclear antibody positive. Early diagnosis and aggressive treatment resulted in a low rate of arthritis and extra-articular manifestations in our cohort.
authors.forename: Mohammed Mustafa
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Moued
authors.forename: Hussain Mohsin
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Al-Saggaf
authors.forename: Hamed Said
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.affiliation: Dr. Mohammed A. Muzaffer, MBChB, FRCPC, King Abdulaziz University Hospital,, PO Box 80215, Jeddah 21589,, Saudi Arabia, F: +966-22-640-8350, mmuzaffer@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohammed Ahmed
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Muzaffer
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002648:Child; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear