Chronic Childhood Arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) (aka Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis JRA) is the most common form of persistent arthritis in children. (Juvenile in this context refers to an onset before age 16, idiopathic refers to a condition with no defined cause, and arthritis is the inflammation of the synovium of a joint.) JIA is a subset of arthritis seen in childhood, which may be transient and self-limited or chronic. It differs significantly from arthritis commonly seen in adults (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis), and other types of arthritis that can present in childhood which are chronic conditions (e.g. psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis). It is an autoimmune disorder. The Terminology used is evolving, and each term has...