Increase in pediatric recurrent fever evaluations during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on new diagnoses of recurrent fevers and autoinflammatory diseases is largely unknown. The Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) PFAPA/AID Working Group aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of pediatric patients evaluated for recurrent fevers and autoinflammatory diseases in North America. The absolute number of new outpatient visits and the proportion of these visits attributed to recurrent fever diagnoses during the pre-pandemic period (1 March 2019-29 February 2020) and the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (1 March 2020-28 February 2021) were examined.

Assessment of Resident Knowledge in Pediatric Rheumatology.

Pediatric Rheumatic illnesses are complex, chronic, and often multi-systemic. Our goal was to assess the efficacy of 2 standardized pediatric rheumatology lectures, administered to pediatric residents, in improving the pediatric residents' knowledge and confidence in pediatric rheumatology. Two lectures, 1 hour each, were delivered by 2 residents and given 1 week apart to 28 pediatric residents.

Does maternal tooth brushing-related sef-efficacy predict child's brushing adherence?

Background: Dental plaque is a root cause of dental caries. Effective plaque control in young children can be achieved with twice-daily assisted tooth brushing. Self-efficacy relates to one's confidence in performing a task.

Dietary Sugar Exposure and Oral Health Status in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case-control Study.

This case-control study compared dietary sugar exposure and oral health status between children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), aged 5-12 years (n = 136, each). Data regarding socio-demographics, child's oral hygiene practices and behavior, diet-related behavior, oral habits and dental trauma were obtained. Child's diet on the previous day was recorded using 24-h recall method and sugar exposure was calculated using Dental Diet Diary (D3) mobile application.

Distinct interferon signatures and cytokine patterns define additional systemic autoinflammatory diseases.

BACKGROUNDUndifferentiated systemic autoinflammatory diseases (USAIDs) present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Chronic interferon (IFN) signaling and cytokine dysregulation may identify diseases with available targeted treatments.METHODSSixty-six consecutively referred USAID patients underwent underwent screening for the presence of an interferon signature using a standardized type-I IFN-response-gene score (IRG-S), cytokine profiling, and genetic evaluation by next-generation sequencing.

Early Outcomes in Children With Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis.

Objective: To characterize the early disease course in childhood-onset antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) and the 12-month outcomes in children with AAV.

Methods: Eligible subjects were children entered into the Pediatric Vasculitis Initiative study who were diagnosed before their eighteenth birthday as having granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's), microscopic polyangiitis, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss), or ANCA-positive pauci-immune glomerulonephritis. The primary outcome measure was achievement of disease remission (Pediatric Vasculitis Activity Score [PVAS] of 0) at 12 months with a corticosteroid dosage of <0.

Comparing Presenting Clinical Features in 48 Children With Microscopic Polyangiitis to 183 Children Who Have Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis (Wegener's): An ARChiVe Cohort Study.

Objective: To uniquely classify children with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), to describe their demographic characteristics, presenting clinical features, and initial treatments in comparison to patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA).

Methods: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) classification algorithm was applied by computation to categorical data from patients recruited to the ARChiVe (A Registry for Childhood Vasculitis: e-entry) cohort, with the data censored to November 2015. The EMA algorithm was used to uniquely distinguish children with MPA from children with GPA, whose diagnoses had been classified according to both adult- and pediatric-specific criteria.

Efficacy of an Interinstitutional Mentoring Program Within Pediatric Rheumatology.

Objective: The small size of many pediatric rheumatology programs translates into limited mentoring options for early career physicians. To address this problem, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) developed a subspecialty-wide interinstitutional mentoring program, the ACR/CARRA Mentoring Interest Group (AMIGO). We sought to assess the impact of this program on mentoring within pediatric rheumatology.

Health related quality of life measure in systemic pediatric rheumatic diseases and its translation to different languages: an international collaboration.

Background: Rheumatic diseases in children are associated with significant morbidity and poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). There is no health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scale available specifically for children with less common rheumatic diseases. These diseases share several features with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) such as their chronic episodic nature, multi-systemic involvement, and the need for immunosuppressive medications.

Novel method to collect medication adverse events in juvenile arthritis: results from the childhood arthritis and rheumatology research alliance enhanced drug safety surveillance project.

Objective: Few data are available regarding the rates of serious adverse events (SAEs) and important medical events (IMEs) outside of product-based registries and clinical trials for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The Enhanced Drug Safety Surveillance Project (EDSSP) was developed to pilot a novel system to collect SAEs/IMEs in children with JIA. This analysis reports the results from this 4-year (2008-2012) EDSSP.

Quality of life measures and psychiatric symptoms in adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus and familial Mediterranean fever.

Purpose: To describe the relation between global Quality of Life (QL) and psychiatric symptoms in adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), and to analyze the perceptions of parents and adolescents.

Methods: This study included 51 adolescents diagnosed with SLE (n=25) and FMF (n=26), and 51 healthy adolescents. The Health Related QL (HRQL) of SLE patients was rated by parents and adolescents using the Simple Measurement of Impact of Lupus Erythematosus in Youngsters© (SMILEY©).

Patterns and influence of familial autoimmunity in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: A high prevalence of autoimmune disease (AD) has been documented in relatives of adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, data on familial inheritance patterns in pediatric SLE patients is scarce.

Findings: The charts of 69 patients with pediatric-onset SLE were reviewed retrospectively.

Children with partial IgA deficiency: clinical characteristics observed in the pediatric rheumatology clinic.

Literature is lacking on partial IgA deficiency. In this study, the authors propose to describe the clinical manifestations of patients with partial IgA deficiency. Methods.

Burden of childhood-onset arthritis.

Juvenile arthritis comprises a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases causing erosive arthritis in children, often progressing to disability. These children experience functional impairment due to joint and back pain, heel pain, swelling of joints and morning stiffness, contractures, pain, and anterior uveitis leading to blindness. As children who have juvenile arthritis reach adulthood, they face possible continuing disease activity, medication-associated morbidity, and life-long disability and risk for emotional and social dysfunction.

Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis in children: a retrospective study.

The duration of treatment and appropriate guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis for children with poststreptococcal reactive arthritis (PSRA) have not been determined. The authors performed a retrospective chart review of 40 children with PSRA and examined their clinical features at initial evaluation and at 6, 12, and 24 months. At baseline, 18% (n = 7) had a finding noted on the echocardiogram.

Physical function assessment tools in pediatric rheumatology.

Pediatric rheumatic diseases with predominant musculoskeletal involvement such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and juvenile dermatomyositis(JDM) can cause considerable physical functional impairment and significantly affect the children's quality of life (QOL). Physical function, QOL, health-related QOL (HRQOL) and health status are personal constructs used as outcomes to estimate the impact of these diseases and often used as proxies for each other. The chronic, fluctuating nature of these diseases differs within and between patients, and complicates the measurement of these outcomes.