The modern approach to diagnosis of juvenile arthritides

Abstract

Objective. To assess utility of East European diagnostic criteria of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (J RA) in the modern conditions. Material and methods. 260 children with juvenile arthritis aged 2 to 18 years (mean 8,5±1,1 years) were included. Disease duration varied from 6 months to 15,5 years (mean 5,4±0,9 years). JRA was diagnosed in 94, juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) — in 107 and other arthritides — in 12 cases (44,1%, 50,2% and 5,6% respectively). Pts with J RA were included in the main group. Group of comparison consisted of 107 pts with JCA, 12 pts with other arthritides, 35 pts with mixed connective tissue disease, 6 pts with Wissler-Fanconi syndrome, 4 — with Still’s disease and 2 - with primary Sjogren’s syndrome. All pts were assessed according to East European diagnostic criteria of JRA. Sensitivity and specificity were determined for every single criterion as well as for combinations of signs. Results. 35 from 260 pts had less than 3 criteria. This group included 2 children with JCA and 33 — with other rheumatic diseases (RD). 207 pts fulfilled criteria of definite or classical JRA (presence of 4 or more criteria but in fact JRA was diagnosed in only 94 (45,4%) from them. Most of remaining pts had JCA (44,9%) or other arthritides (4,8%). 10 pts with other RD also fulfilled criteria of definite or classical JRA (4,8%). Probable JRA could be diagnosed in 17 pts but no one of them had this disease. Combination of 8 or more signs was most sensitive (74,5%) and specific (76,6-100%) and presence of 4-7 criteria was common in other diseases. 9 signs were sensitive for JRA in comparison with JCA (20,2-96,8%). Only 4 from them (small joints symmetric arthritis, rheumatoid factor, bone growth disturbance, cervical spine damage) had high specificity (86,9-99,1%). Conclusion. At the present time East European diagnostic criteria of J RA need modification. They allow to differentiate JRA from other RD but do not help to reveal intra-group differences in pts with juvenile arthritis. Quality features of every criterion are more important for the diagnosis than their quantity combination. It is necessary to develop diagnostic criteria of JRA allowing to differentiate it from JCA and to develop criteria for JCA itself.