ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and outcome of chronic uveitis in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 760 patients with JRA followed in 4 pediatric rheumatology centers. Patients with chronic uveitis were identified and their medical and ophthalmologic records were reviewed. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients with uveitis were identified. The prevalence of uveitis was 9.3%. The mean interval from the onset of JRA to the onset of uveitis was 21 months, and 90% of the patients who developed uveitis did so within the first 4 years of their disease. Visual complications (synechiae, band keratopathy, cataract, or glaucoma) developed in 31% of the patients with uveitis. Complications were more common in patients who presented with uveitis early in the course of their JRA. Complications were also more common in antinuclear antibody (ANA) negative than in ANA positive patients. Visual loss to 20/50 or worse occurred in only 11% of patients with uveitis, and no patient became blind. CONCLUSION: In a very large cohort of patients with JRA, uveitis was uncommon and poor visual outcome was rare. Visual complications did not necessarily result in a poor outcome.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Juvenile/diagnosis , Uveitis/diagnosis , Antibodies, Antinuclear/blood , Cataract/complications , Child , Child, Preschool , Cohort Studies , Corneal Diseases/complications , Female , Glaucoma/complications , Humans , Iris Diseases/complications , Male , Retrospective Studies , Uveitis/complicationsABSTRACT
Calf pseudothrombophlebitis is defined as the acute onset of nontraumatic, nonthrombotic painful swelling of the calf after knee synovitis. The name underscores the clinical similarities between this condition and "true" femoral/popliteal thrombophlebitis pointed out by Baker more than a century ago. A variety of arthritic conditions of the knee, primarily chronic, can be complicated by calf pseudothrombophlebitis. Pseudothrombophlebitis as a complication of Lyme arthritis has been mentioned in clinical reviews of the disease, but to our knowledge, no documented cases of such association were published. Furthermore, pseudothrombophlebitis in the setting of Lyme disease is particularly challenging, both from the diagnostic and therapeutic points of view.Herein, we describe three children who developed pseudothrombophlebitis as a presenting feature of Lyme disease. One of the patients is described in detail, and the clinical findings on the whole group are summarized.
