Clinical characteristics and risk factors of juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis

Objective To analyze the risk factors and clinical characteristics of uveitis in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Methods A retrospective case-control study was conducted on 30 children with JIA-associated uveitis (JIA-U) and 36 age- and gender-matched children diagnosed as simple JIA admitted to Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from June 2016 to June 2023. The clinical data, laboratory indicators and radiological findings were collected, and analyzed for the risk factors for JIA-U with univariate and multivariate analysis. Results In this study, JIA-U mostly occurred in both eyes (63.3%, 19/30), with anterior uveitis as the main cause (86.7%, 26/30), insidious onset, and mostly occurred after JIA diagnosis (60.0%, 18/30), and only 30% showing ocular discomfort or visual impairment. Univariate analysis showed that the JIA children with oligoarthritis JIA, negative rheumatoid factor (RF) and negative anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP) were prone to be complicated with uveitis (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that RF negativity was an independent risk factor for development of JIA-U (OR=5.400, 95%CI: 1.033~28.227, P=0.046). Conclusion IA-U often develops in both eyes, anterior uveitis is the most common, and it mostly diagnosed after JIA. It has no obvious eye symptoms in the early stage and thus is not easily recognized. Oligoarthritis JIA, RF-negative, and anti-CCP antibody-negative are the high-risk factors for the complication of JIA-U in children with JIA.