Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis overview
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA),[1] is the most common form of persistent arthritis in children.
JIA is sometimes referred to as juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA),[2] a term that is not precise as JIA does not encompass all forms of chronic childhood arthritis.
Arthritis is the inflammation of the synovium (the lining tissues) of a joint.
JIA is a subset of arthritis seen in childhood, which may be transient and self-limited or chronic. It differs significantly from arthritis commonly seen in adults (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis), and other types of arthritis that can present in childhood which are chronic conditions (e.g. psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis). Inflammatory arthritis affects children and adolescents differently due to special disease affection of the growing musculoskeletal and immune systems in young patients.
References
References
- ↑ Ringold S, Burke A, Glass R (2005). “JAMA patient page. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis”. JAMA. 294 (13): 1722. PMID 16204672.
- ↑ Dana D, Erstad S. Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. bchealthguide.org. Available at: http://www.bchealthguide.org/kbase/topic/major/hw104391/descrip.htm. Accessed on: March 11, 2007.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Nehal Eid, M.D.[2]