Management of collagen vascular diseases in childhood.

Collagen vascular diseases seen in children include systemic, discoid and neonatal lupus, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and, in rare cases, Sjogren's syndrome. Although these diseases are uncommon in children, when seen, they are associated with significant morbidity. This review describes the clinical features of each condition and provides an overview of treatment options now available. These include numerous systemic treatments which can be used as steroid-sparing agents.