The articular prognosis of pauciarticular onset juvenile arthritis is not influenced by the presence of uveitis

Objective. The purpose of our retrospective study was to determine the longterm articular prognosis in patients with pauciarticular onset juvenile arthritis (JA) with and without uveitis. Methods. Twenty-nine patients with pauciarticular onset JA with uveitis were compared to 86 without uveitis, matched for sex, age at disease onset, and duration of followup. All patients had a minimum followup of 6 years from disease onset. The outcome of arthritis was evaluated by: (1) progression to polyarticular disease; (2) hip involvement; (3) radiographic evidence of articular erosions; (4) significant functional disability at the last visit. Results. There was no Statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in the severity variables considered, single or combined. Conclusion. Our data suggest that the presence of uveitis does not influence the longterm articular prognosis in pauciarticular onset JA.