Nearly 300,000 children in the United States have some sort of arthritis, which is an inflammation of the joints, characterized by swelling, heat, and pain. Arthritis in children is called "juvenile arthritis."
The most common form of juvenile arthritis is juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, or JRA. It affects approximately 50,000 children in the United States. Typically, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis appears between the ages of 6 months and 16 years. The first signs are often joint pain or swelling and reddened or warm joints.
There are 3 major types of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis:
- Polyarticular arthritis affects more girls than boys. The small joints of the hands are affected as well as the weight-bearing joints such as the knees, hips, ankles, feet, and neck.
- Pauciarticular JRA affects 4 or fewer joints. The knee and wrist joints are the most commonly affected. An inflammation of the iris (the colored area of the eye) may occur with or without active joint symptoms. This inflammation, called iridocyclitis or iritis or uveitis, can be detected early by an ophthalmologist.
- Systemic JRA affects the whole body. Symptoms may include high fevers and enlarged spleen and lymph nodes.
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