Juvenile idiopathic arthritis in Sudanese children: Clinical characteristics and subtypes

Aim of the work To evaluate the demographic, clinical presentation, and laboratory findings of the juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) subtypes in Sudanese patients attending the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic. Patients and methods This single-center study was conducted at the Rheumatology Clinic of Ahmed Gasim Hospital, Khartoum North. A specially designed data collection form was used. Full medical history and physical examination of patients was done. The initial investigation was collected from the patients' records. Results Eighty-one patients were enrolled in the study. Females were 54 and 27 males (F: M was 2:1). The mean age of the patients was 10.8 ± 3.6 years, 58% were above 10 years; disease duration 5.8 ± 2.4 years and age at onset 9 ± 3.8 years, the commonest age at onset was between 5 and 10 years. Half of the patients were from rural areas. There was a positive family history in 7.4%. Morning stiffness was the commonest presenting symptom (98.8%) and uveitis was present in 8.6%. The knee was the most affected joint (82.7%). The polyarticular subtype was found in 51 (63%), systemic-onset in 18 (22.2%), oligo articular in 10 (12.3%) and spondyloarthritis in 2 (2.5%). Seven patients (8.6%) had uveitis. Rheumatoid factor (RF) and antinuclear antibody (ANA) were positive among 30.9% and 46.9% of the participants respectively. Conclusion Females predominate and half of the patients are from rural areas. Polyarticular is the commonest subtype. Morning stiffness is the presenting symptom. The knee joint was the most affected. Positive RF was found in one-third of patients, ANA in about half of them.