Reactive arthritis in children

One of the common childhood illnesses is reactive arthritis, which develops during or soon after an infection. Purpose. The aim of the study was to study the etiology, clinical and laboratory manifestations of arthritis in children. Material and methods. The study included 37 children with arthritis aged 1 year 10 months to 15 years who were hospitalized at Kazan City Children’s Hospital № 1. Results. Reactive arthritis was diagnosed in 26 children, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis in 11. In 20 patients, reactive arthritis manifested itself as monoarthritis with predominant damage to the hip or knee joints – in 11 and 9 cases, respectively. Two children had ankle arthritis. In 4 cases there was oligoarthritis. Markers of infectious diseases were identified in 10 out of 26 children with reactive arthritis (38%). In 5 children (19%) IgM to Mycoplasma pneumonia was detected, in two (8%) – IgM to capsid antigen of Epstein–Barr virus, in one child (4%) – IgM to Chlamydia pneumonia . Two children had elevated ASLO values (more than 400 IU/ml). Inflammatory in the blood in 33 cases (89%) were characterized by increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, the median of which was 22 mm/hour. Increased level of C-reactive protein and leukocytes in the blood were observed only in 9 (24%) and 7 (19%) children, respectively. Conclusion. Reactive arthritis in children mainly manifests as monoarthritis, with predominant damage to the hip or knee joints and in most cases was associated with Mycoplasma pneumonia.