ABSTRACT
Introduction: Autoimmune disease are frequently associated with growth impairment
This may be a consequence of the inflammatory process associated with disease activity and it also caused by the high-dose corticosteroids that are often used for treatment
Aim: Screening of growth impairment in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune chronic liver disorders
Subject and methods: One thousand cases of school age children of both sexes of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and autoimmune chronic liver disorders, the study will be conducted in the 4 main pediatric hospitals in Alexandria, to detect growth impairment in those children as indicated by auxological parameters from June 2010 to August 2015
Results: in the studied juvenile rheumatoid arthritis[No. 593] group of school male [No. 118] and female [No. 475] children <3[rd]-<10[th] height for age percentile category [short stature] the percentage in males and females were 51.7 and 46.5 respectively, which the highest percentages are statistically significant and in the studied autoimmune chronic liver disorders [ACLD] group of school age female [N. 69] children and adolescents in the short stature category [<3[rd]-<10[th] height for age percentile] a high percentage was observed which was 45.5 that is statistically significant
Pubertal assessment [Tanner staging] of the studied systemic lupus erythematosus[SLE] group of school age male children and adolescents [No. 69] shows that 48% of cases were in the Tanner stage 1 category is statistically significant which means delayed puberty was in a large number of this cases
Conclusion: Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus eryth-ematosus and autoimmune chronic liver disorders are frequently associated with growth impairment and delayed puberty. It is important to regularly monitor physical development and control inflammation associated with disease activity