BACKGROUND: Limping is a common clinical symptom in childhood; different clinical conditions may lead to limping and the diagnosis of the underlying cause may often be a challenge for the pediatrician.
METHODS: We describe the clinical manifestations, radiological pictures and disease course of other causes of limping in childhood, through a case series of seven cases and a brief discussion of each disease.
CONCLUSIONS: although trauma is the most common cause of acute limping, when there is no history of traumatic events and the limping has a chronic course, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis is usually the most likely clinical diagnosis. However, other some rare conditions should be taken into account if JIA is not confirmed or if it presents with atypical clinical picture.

Currently, data regarding the impact of COVID-19 disease (caused by SARS-CoV-2) on patients with childhood rheumatic diseases are significantly limited. To assess the possible connection, we measured levels of IgA and IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and a control group during the pandemic, prior to the introduction of anti-COVID-19 vaccination. We assessed levels of PD-1 suppressive molecule and inflammatory markers in patients and correlated those results with serological response to SARS-CoV-2. In JIA patients, the activity of the disease was assessed using the Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score 71 (JADAS 71) scale. The study consisted of 96 children, 65 diagnosed with JIA, treated with antirheumatic drugs, and 31 healthy volunteers. In patients with JIA, significantly higher levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the IgA and IgG were demonstrated compared to the control group. We also found significantly higher serum PD-1 levels in JIA patients and control volunteers who were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 IgA or IgG antibodies compared to those who were seronegative. The humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with the persistent upregulation of PD-1 expression in both JIA patients and healthy children. The clinical significance of the detected disorder requires further careful observation.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis necessitates the use of long-term corticosteroids or immunosuppressive agents, each of which poses their own significant side effect profile. Initial treatment requires intensive topical glucocorticoids, with a step-up approach employing immunosuppressive agents for those cases with poor response or high-risk complications such as macular oedema. To date, there is minimal evidence to support a specific approach to such complicated subgroups. We present the first case to successfully employ the 0.19 mg fluocinolone acetonide implant (ILUVIEN®, Alimera Sciences, Hampshire, UK) as a novel device for prolonged intravitreal administration of disease-modifying agents for patients with JIA complicated by uveitis.
METHODS: This retrospective case report describes a 20-year old woman diagnosed with oligoarticular JIA complicated by chronic uveitis and associated cystoid macular oedema (CMO). Considering factors including the patient\'s non-compliance, age, lens status, non-steroid response, and good response to short-term intravitreal steroid therapy, the 0.19 mg fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant was deemed an appropriate step-up treatment option.
RESULTS: At 12-month follow-up, the left eye (OS) showed an improvement in visual acuity to 6/15 - 1 from 6/60 + 1 (0.42 from 0.98 logMAR) (pre-insertion) and a reduction in central retinal thickness (CRT) of 199 μm from 471 μm. The right eye (OD), treated 10 months later, showed an improvement in visual acuity to 6/7.5 from 6/24 - 1 (0.10 from 0.56 LogMAR) and a reduction in CRT of 327 μm 6 months after treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: In this case, the 0.19 mg fluocinolone acetonide implant provided safe and effective long-term treatment of JIA-associated uveitis and secondary CMO. This potentially offers an alternative approach to complex cases that show good response to short-term corticosteroid use.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis is rare in the Japanese population. In this article, we report a child whose macular edema was controlled for years after cataract surgery with adalimumab, and reviewed 26 Japanese patients in the literature. In this case report, a 4-year-old boy developed band keratopathy, posterior iris synechiae, and complicated cataract in both eyes. Oral prednisolone prescribed at another hospital was discontinued due to high intraocular pressure in both eyes as a steroid responder. At the age of 5 years, he started oral methotrexate 8 mg weekly for recurrent bilateral iridocyclitis and then underwent lensectomy with core vitrectomy in both eyes. Planned intraocular lens implantation was cancelled at surgery because the anterior vitreous had severe inflammatory opacity with diffuse retinal edema in both eyes. Due to persistent macular edema in both eyes 5 months postoperatively, at the age of 6 years, he began to use adalimumab injection 20 mg every 2 weeks. The macular structure depicted by optical coherence tomography became normal in 2 months. At final visit at the age of 11 years, he had the best-corrected visual acuity of 0.8 in the right eye and 0.4 in the left eye, with adalimumab 40 mg every 2 weeks and methotrexate 8 mg weekly. In conclusion, macular edema persistent despite oral methotrexate after cataract surgery could be controlled for long term by adalimumab in a child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In the Japanese literature, only 26 additional cases with juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis have been reported so far.

Pediatric rheumatologic disease occurs more frequently than several other chronic pediatric diseases but is often underrecognized. It is estimated that in the US, one in 250 children has some form of juvenile arthritis and 300,000 children have a form of rheumatologic disease. However, there are only approximately 400 practicing pediatric rheumatologists nationwide.
Kern\'s six-step method was used to develop a pediatric rheumatology curriculum based on respondents\' perceived lack of training and comfort with four key areas: workup, musculoskeletal exam, laboratory interpretation, and referral to rheumatology. These cases were developed for second-year pediatric and second- and third-year internal medicine-pediatric residents rotating with the service. The curriculum was composed of four 30-minute case discussions as well as an observed musculoskeletal exam session.
In 2017, weekly case study sessions reached 34 trainees. Survey results from these trainees are representative of our overall results and reveal that learners felt the content of the cases helped increase comfort with compiling pertinent history and information of symptoms consistent with autoimmune disease, recognizing physical exam findings of autoimmune disease, ordering and interpreting laboratory studies in children with concerns for autoimmune disease, and referring to pediatric rheumatology.
This case-based curriculum exposed residents to presentations of the more common autoimmune diseases encountered in the pediatric population. The curriculum helps fill a gap in pediatric training through increased exposure to this subset of chronic diseases and expands physical examination skills not typically taught in general pediatrics.