Treatment of latent tuberculosis in patients with juvenile rheumatic diseases: a systematic review.

Introduction: Children and adolescents with rheumatic diseases receiving TNF blockers are at risk for the activation of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Although LTBI treatment is indicated in this group, there are different therapeutic regimens in the literature, without a definite consensus.

Objectives: To review in the literature therapeutic schemes used and indicated for the treatment of LTBI in these patients.

Biological therapy and development of neoplastic disease in patients with juvenile rheumatic disease: a systematic review.

Juvenile rheumatic diseases affect the musculoskeletal system and begin before the age of 18. These conditions have varied, identifiable or unknown etiologies, but those of an autoimmune inflammatory nature have been associated with an increased risk of development of cancer, regardless of treatment. This study aims to assess, through a systematic review of the literature according to Prisma (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) quality criteria, the risk of cancer in patients with juvenile rheumatic disease, and its association with biological agents.

[Articular manifestations in patients with atypical rheumatic fever].

Objectives: To describe the clinical characteristics and the occurrence of atypical arthritis in children diagnosed with rheumatic fever (RF) and followed in tertiary care clinics in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Methodology: A descriptive study of a case series, of the initial clinical presentation, and of recurrence in 41 children diagnosed with RF.

Results: Of the patients studied (n=41), 61% were male, mean age of 9.

Autoimmune thyroid disease in patients with rheumatic diseases.

Thyroid function abnormalities and thyroid autoantibodies have been frequently described in patients with rheumatologic autoimmune diseases, such as Sjögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma. Limited data are available regarding the prevalence and clinical characteristics of autoimmune thyroiditis in other rheumatologic disorders, such as rheumatic fever and juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus. The authors review the association of endocrine autoimmune and rheumatic autoimmune diseases, assessing various age groups and clinical conditions.

Osteoarticular manifestations as initial presentation of acute leukemias in children and adolescents in Bahia, Brazil.

Objective: This study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of the osteoarticular manifestations on initial clinical presentation of acute leukemias (ALs) on childhood in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study assessed the medical records of 406 patients with AL from January 1995 to December 2004.

Results: Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) was diagnosed in 313 (77.