ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most frequent chronic inflammatory rheumatic condition in children. We aimed to describe the clinical and serological profile of Saudi patients with oligoarticular JIA. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Hospital-based retrospective chart review of all children diagnosed with oligoarticular JIA and followed up at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between 1998 and 2012. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed the medical files of children with oligoarticular JIA and recorded the gender, age at presentation and diagnosis, clinical presentation, laboratory and radiological investigations, treatment administered, and disease complications. Descriptive statistics was performed using SPSS (version 20, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: We enrolled 37 patients with JIA, of which 24 (64.9%) were girls. The mean age of the patients at presentation was 6.9 years, while the mean age at diagnosis was 7.2 years. A total of 31 patients (83.8%) presented with joint pain, and 36 (97.3%) had a swelling; 19 patients (51.4%) had a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at first presentation (mean, 41.8 [25.4] mm/h). ANA was positive in 15 patients (40.5%). The following treatments were administered: naproxen in 37 patients (100%), intra-articular corticosteroids in 12 cases (32.4%), methotrexate in 14 patients (37.8%), and adalimumab in 5 patients (13.5%). During follow-up, the following were documented: limited range of motion (n=15; 40.5%), deformity (n=5.4%), contracture (n=1; 2.7%), leg-length discrepancy (n=9; 24.3%), and anemia (n=7; 18.9%). CONCLUSION: Oligoarticular JIA is more frequent in females, and it shows a predilection for the knees. Initially, many patients presented with high ESRs, and they were antinuclear antibody positive. Early diagnosis and aggressive treatment resulted in a low rate of arthritis and extra-articular manifestations in our cohort.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Antinuclear/immunology , Arthritis, Juvenile/physiopathology , Knee Joint/pathology , Age of Onset , Arthritis, Juvenile/diagnosis , Arthritis, Juvenile/epidemiology , Blood Sedimentation , Child , Early Diagnosis , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Retrospective Studies , Saudi Arabia , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in the population tested, and to evaluate the prevalence of neonatal jaundice in newborns with G6PD deficiency. METHODS: Cord blood of all babies born between October 1996 and October 1998 at the Royal Commission Medical Center in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, was screened for G6PD deficiency by fluorescent spot test. The results of screening of cord blood samples were reported to the physician in charge, and also placed on the files of the babies and their mothers. These babies were observed for 72 h and discharged if no jaundice developed. RESULTS: During this two-year period, 2,505 neonatal cord blood samples from 1,278 boys and 1,227 girls were screened for G6PD. There were 50 positive results for G6PD deficiency (39 boys and 11 girls), and the prevalence was estimated to be around 2%. The sex-specific prevalence for boys was 3.05%, and for girls 0.9%. Male to female ratio was 3:1. Neonatal jaundice developed in six (12%) babies, five male and one female. All were treated with phototherapy and discharged within one week of birth. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of G6PD is relatively high in Yanbu. Routine neonatal screening in areas with a high prevalence of G6PD in Saudi Arabia is justifiable.
