What are the symptoms of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

The so-called juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a rheumatic disease in children, which mainly manifests itself in the connective tissue, with local fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, visceral lesions, etc. It will gradually improve with the progression of the disease. So what are the specific symptoms?

The disease has a peak incidence in the 2-3 year old and 8-10 year old age groups and is more common in girls. The clinical onset can be divided into the following 3 types, and the clinical manifestations include joint and extra-articular symptoms.

1. Whole body type

Also known as the acute onset type, it is more common in children aged 2 to 3 years old, accounting for about 10% to 20% of childhood rheumatoid disease.

1. Fever is the main feature of the disease. The body temperature is often as high as 39-40°C, presenting a remittent fever. When the fever is severe, the child looks seriously ill, but can play normally after the fever subsides. The fever may last for weeks or even months.

2. Rash: The febrile period is often accompanied by a transient polymorphic rash that appears and disappears with the rise and fall of body temperature.

3. Arthritis Most children have transient arthritis when they have a fever, or only myalgia or joint pain, which is easily masked by systemic symptoms. The joint symptoms disappear after the fever subsides. The knee joints are most commonly affected, and the finger joints, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and ankle joints are also often affected. Only a few children develop chronic polyarthritis, leading to joint deformities.

4. Hepatosplenomegaly: About half of the cases have hepatosplenomegaly, which may be accompanied by abnormal liver function and jaundice in a few cases. Most children may have swollen lymph nodes throughout the body, and abdominal pain may occur when the mesenteric lymph nodes are swollen.

5. Pleurisy and pericarditis: About 1/3 of children develop pleurisy or pericarditis, but without obvious symptoms, and generally no treatment is required. Occasionally, a large amount of pericardial effusion may require decompression treatment.