1. Welcome to the
Club
Elizabeth Candell Chalom, MD
Director, Pediatric Rheumatology
Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Livingston, NJ
2. My Child has a
Rheumatic Disease
WHY????
No One Knows
3. Genetic???
Autoimmune/rheumatologic diseases
tend to run in families, but are not
strictly genetic.
Identical twin studies show less than
50% concordance rates for most
rheumatic disorders.
Genetic predisposition to autoimmune
diseases.
4. Diagnosis
Rheumatologic diseases are very
difficult to diagnose!!
Very often they are diagnoses of
exclusion.
They must be watched over time --
almost never diagnosed at the first
visit.
Very frustrating for parent, patient
and physician.
5. Unpredictable Course
The natural course of rheumatologic
disorders is one of exacerbations and
remissions.
Children can have great days followed by
terrible days, which are then followed by
great days.
Medicines which seem to work well at one
point may later seem to have no effect.
6. Unpredictable Prognosis
Prognosis is very variable, with a wide
range of possibilities.
Although certain labs (RF, HLA typing)
increase the likelihood of a given
prognosis, there is still a great deal of
variation.
Few physicians will commit and give a
prognosis.
8. PATHOGENESIS
The key is inflammation
Inflammation in the joints: thickening of the
synovium (cells lining the joint) and
increased joint fluid (swelling)
Over a long period of time may lead to joint
damage
Inflammation in the muscles (myositis), blood
vessels (vasculitis), around the heart or
lungs (serositis).
9. Eye Disease
All children with rheumatic disorders should
have their eyes checked frequently.
Uveitis can be seen in JIA. ---Often
asymptomatic, until vision loss occurs.
Lupus,Vasculitis, Behcet’s, etc. can affect
the eyes.
Medications (steroids, plaquenil) can affect
the eyes.
10. Eye Exams
Children with oligioiarticular JIA, or ANA+
polyarticular JIA should have their eyes
checked every 3 months.
Children with ANA- polyarticular JIA and
lupus should have eye exams every 6
months.
Children taking steroids (JIA, lupus,
dermatomyositis, etc.) should have eye
exams every 6 months.
11. Diagnostic Criteria for JIA
Age at onset < 16 years
Presence of arthritis (joint swelling, loss of
motion)
Duration of 6 weeks or longer
Onset type classified in the first 6 months
Exclusion of other forms of juvenile arthritis
12. Types of JIA
Oligioarticular JIA: affects less than 5 joints
Polyarticular JIA: affects 5 or more joints
ERA/Sponduloarthropathies
Psoriatic Arthritis
Systemic onset JIA: high, spiking fevers;
rash; can have swollen glands, heart
involvement, liver involvement.
13. Definition of SLE
Multisystem, autoimmune disease.
Antibodies attack various components of
the cell nucleus.
Wide variety of clinical manifestations.
Four of the following 11 criteria, developed
by the American College of Rheumatology,
must be met to classify a patient with
systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE):
14. Criteria for SLE
Malar (butterfly) rash
Arthritis: pain & swelling in
the joints
Discoid rash
Neurological disease:
Photosensitivity
seizures or hallucinations
Oral or nasal painless Serositis: fluid around the
ulcers
heart or lungs
Blood disease: anemia Autoantibodies to either:
(↓hemoglobin) or ↓white
dsDNA or Sm nuclear
blood cells or ↓platelets
antigen, or antiphosphllipid
Kidney disease: protein antibodies
or blood in the urine Positive ANA
15. Dermatomyositis
Inflammation of the muscles can cause
significant weakness
Rash: most often over the knuckles,
around the eyes, and on the chest. Can
also see on elbows and knees
Labs often show ↑CPK and ↑ aldolase
(muscle enzymes)
16. Dermatomyositis
Important to stretch but not to overuse
muscles early on
When muscles are inflamed, they can
become tight and stiff. Stretching helps
prevent contractures (permanent shortening
of the muscles).
Overuse and stressing the muscles can
increase inflammation
19. Medications
NSAIDS: Decrease pain and inflammation
Naprosyn, Relafen, Daypro, Voltaren,
Indocin, etc.
Cox-2 inhibitors: Celebrex
Meloxicam (mostly)
1st line treatment, take 4-6 weeks for full
effect
Main side effect: GI upset
Can affect: liver, kidneys, cell counts
20. Medications (cont.)
Steroids
Often needed to control systemic symptoms
(fever, rash, myositis, etc.)
Sometimes needed to control joint symptoms
Can be taken by mouth, given intravenously,
or injected into the joints
Systemic steroids work well but cause many
significant side effects
Joint injections cause minimal side effects
21. Medications (continued)
DMARDs (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs)
Methotrexate- most common second line agent
for inflammatory arthritis and dermatomyositis
Sulfasalazine- especially good for
ERA/spondyloarthropathies
Hydroxychloroquine-good for skin disease in
lupus and dermatomyositis, helps prevent lupus
flares
Cellcept- good for lupus, especially renal
disease
22. What’s New in Rheumatic
Medications
Almost all DMARDS were borrowed from other
specialties
Gold for pulmonary TB
Antimalarials (Plaquenil)
Sulfasalazine for IBD
Penacillamine for Wilsons and Cystinuria
Methotrexate and Cytoxan for cancer
24. Biologics (cont.)
All are degraded by the acid in the
stomach, so none can be taken by
mouth.
Some must be given IV, others can be
given SQ
25. New Medications or
Diets
Almost every week, a new drug or vitamin
is described as the “cure” for arthritis.
Most of the time, there is no scientific
evidence to support these claims.
When controlled studies are actually
done, very few of these new “cures”
show any efficacy.
Holistic therapies have not been able to
replace conventional treatments.
26. Exercise in Rheumatologic
Disorders
More and more
information has recently
come out showing the
importance of exercise in
rheumatologic diseases
27. Goals of Exercise
Increase flexibility, muscle strength
and endurance
Increase stamina for daily activities
Increase sense of well being
28. Conditioning Programs
Conditioning programs have been
shown to decrease the number of
swollen joints, increase range of
motion, and decrease perception
of pain in children with arthritis
29. Why Children with Arthritis
Don’t Exercise
Fear of discomfort
Fear of not playing sports well
Parental overprotection
Fear of injury or disease exacerbation
30. What is a Reasonable
Compromise?
While joints/muscles are actively inflamed,
gentle exercise/stretching are encouraged.
Non-contact sports are allowed, as long as
the child understands he/she should not
overdo it.
If a joint begins hurting during exercise,
he/she is overdoing it.
31. Tips for Exercise in
Children with Arthritis
Stretch
especially hip flexors, hamstrings,
dorsiflexors
Strengthen
helps support the joints
Aerobic conditioning
need to start conditioning earlier
32. Day to Day Problems with
Chronic Illness
Compliance
Once children start feeling better, they think
they don’t need medications anymore
Side effects of medications:
• Injections can be painful
• Steroids cause weight gain
• Methotrexate can cause nausea
Anger
33. I Don’t Want to be Sick!
Children don’t want to be different from their friends
Most friends don’t take medications every day or
every week
Most friends don’t have days when they feel lousy
for seemingly no reason
Most friends don’t need frequent lab tests and
doctor’s visits
It’s not fair!!!
34. What Parents Can Do
Acknowledge that it is not fair, but be positive
Allow children to take as much control over their
illness as possible
Treat child with rheumatic disorder the same as
siblings
Yes you can!
Emphasize what they can do, not what they can’t do
Allow them to try, even if you think they may fail
35. Arthritis Foundation
Meeting other children “in the same boat” can
be extremely helpful
Conferences
Camps
JA Activities
Get involved
36. Problems with Rheumatic
Disorders
We still don’t understand rheumatic
disorders
We don’t know the causes
Our medications help control symptoms,
but there can be side effects
We NEED a cure!