RESUMEN
Within an observational open study on the effects of a scheduled dosage of biscuits with iron, children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis were either supplemented with biscuits supplying iron fumarate (median 3.6 mg per day) or left to their customary dietary habits. After 4 months, supplemented children showed a more favourable percentage change of blood haemoglobin, while ferritin levels (markers of inflammation) remained stable. We conclude that the supply of iron with available dietary products may contribute to an adequate iron status in children with chronic inflammatory disorders in a stable situation.
Asunto(s)
Artritis Juvenil/patología , Pan , Alimentos Fortificados , Inflamación/sangre , Hierro de la Dieta/uso terapéutico , Hierro/uso terapéutico , Estado Nutricional , Anemia Ferropénica/sangre , Anemia Ferropénica/etiología , Anemia Ferropénica/prevención & control , Artritis Juvenil/sangre , Niño , Preescolar , Suplementos Dietéticos , Femenino , Ferritinas/sangre , Hemoglobinas/metabolismo , Humanos , Inflamación/complicaciones , Hierro/sangre , Hierro/farmacología , Hierro de la Dieta/sangre , Hierro de la Dieta/farmacología , MasculinoRESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: To compare the demographic features, presenting manifestations, diagnostic investigations, disease course, and drug therapies of children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) followed in Europe and Latin America. METHODS: Patients were inception cohorts seen between 1980 and 2004 in 27 paediatric rheumatology centres. The following information was collected through the review of patient charts: sex; age at disease onset; date of disease onset and diagnosis; onset type; presenting clinical features; diagnostic investigations; course type; and medications received during disease course. RESULTS: Four hundred and ninety patients (65.5% females, mean onset age 7.0 years, mean disease duration 7.7 years) were included. Disease presentation was acute or insidious in 57.1% and 42.9% of the patients, respectively. The course type was monophasic in 41.3% of patients and chronic polycyclic or continuous in 58.6% of patients. The more common presenting manifestations were muscle weakness (84.9%), Gottron's papules (72.9%), heliotrope rash (62%), and malar rash (56.7%). Overall, the demographic and clinical features of the 2 continental cohorts were comparable. European patients received more frequently high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone, cyclosporine, cyclophosphamide, and azathioprine, while methotrexate and antimalarials medications were used more commonly by Latin American physicians. CONCLUSIONS: The demographic and clinical characteristics of JDM are similar in European and Latin American patients. We found, however, several differences in the use of medications between European and Latin American paediatric rheumatologists.