Biomedical subjects

Joan Ros

Publications and source records attributed to Joan Ros.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Congenital localized scleroderma.

OBJECTIVES: Juvenile localized scleroderma (JLS) usually has its onset during later childhood. This report describes the clinical and serologic features of six children with congenital localized scleroderma (CLS). STUDY DESIGN: A large, multinational study was conducted among pediatric rheumatology and dermatology centers by collecting information on demographics, family history, triggering environmental factors, clinical features, laboratory reports, and treatment of patients with JLS. Patients with onset at birth were carefully examined. RESULTS: Among 750 patients with JLS, 6 patients (0.8%) had scleroderma-related lesions at birth. Female-to-male ratio was 2:1. All patients had linear scleroderma, in four involving the face with en coup de sabre appearance. Two patients were misdiagnosed as having skin infection, one nevus, one salmon patch, and two undefined skin lesions. The mean diagnostic delay was 3.9 years. In comparison with the group of 733 patients with late-onset JLS, CLS presented a significantly more prolonged disease duration at diagnosis and a higher frequency of en coup de sabre subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: Congenital localized scleroderma is a rare and probably underestimated condition in neonates. The linear subtype was the exclusive manifestation of the disease. CLS should be included in the differential diagnosis of infants with cutaneous erythematous fibrotic lesions to avoid functional and aesthetic sequelae and to allow prompt therapy.

Atrophy↗

PubMed2005

The Pediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organization criteria for the evaluation of response to therapy in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus: prospective validation of the disease activity core set.

OBJECTIVE: To validate and promulgate a core set of outcome measures for the evaluation of response to treatment in patients with juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: In 2001, a preliminary consensus-derived core set of measures for evaluating the response to therapy in juvenile SLE was established. In the present study, the core set was validated through an evidence-based, large-scale data collection process that led to the enrollment of 557 patients from 39 different countries. Consecutive patients with active disease were assessed at baseline and after 6 months. The validation procedures included assessment of feasibility, responsiveness, discriminant and construct ability, agreement in the evaluation of response to therapy between physicians and parents, redundancy, internal consistency, and ability to predict a therapeutic response. RESULTS: The following clinical measures were found to be feasible and to have good construct validity, discriminative ability, and internal consistency; furthermore, they were not redundant, proved responsive to clinically important changes in disease activity, and were associated strongly with treatment outcome and thus were included in the final core set: 1) physician's global assessment of disease activity, 2) global disease activity measure, 3) 24-hour proteinuria, 4) parent's global assessment of the patient's overall well-being, and 5) health-related quality of life assessment. CONCLUSION: The members of PRINTO propose a core set of criteria for the evaluation of response to therapy that is scientifically and clinically relevant and statistically validated. The core set will help standardize the conduct and reporting of clinical trials and assist practitioners in deciding whether a patient with juvenile SLE has responded adequately to therapy.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Localized scleroderma in childhood is not just a skin disease.

OBJECTIVE: Juvenile localized scleroderma is usually considered a disease that is confined to the skin and subcutaneous tissue. We studied the prevalence and clinical features of extracutaneous manifestations in a large cohort of children with juvenile localized scleroderma. METHODS: Data from a multinational study on juvenile scleroderma was used for this in-depth study. Clinical features of patients with extracutaneous manifestations were compared with those of patients who had exclusively skin involvement. RESULTS: Seven hundred fifty patients entered the study. One hundred sixty-eight patients (22.4%) presented with a total of 193 extracutaneous manifestations, as follows: articular (47.2%), neurologic (17.1%), vascular (9.3%), ocular (8.3%), gastrointestinal (6.2%), respiratory (2.6%), cardiac (1%), and renal (1%). Other autoimmune conditions were present in 7.3% of patients. Neurologic involvement consisted of epilepsy, central nervous system vasculitis, peripheral neuropathy, vascular malformations, headache, and neuroimaging abnormalities. Ocular manifestations were episcleritis, uveitis, xerophthalmia, glaucoma, and papilledema. In more than one-fourth of these children, articular, neurologic, and ocular involvements were unrelated to the site of skin lesions. Raynaud's phenomenon was reported in 16 patients. Respiratory involvement consisted essentially of restrictive lung disease. Gastrointestinal involvement was reported in 12 patients and consisted exclusively of gastroesophageal reflux. Thirty patients (4%) had multiple extracutaneous features, but systemic sclerosis (SSc) developed in only 1 patient. In patients with extracutaneous involvement, the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies and rheumatoid factor was significantly higher than that among patients with only skin involvement. However, Scl-70 and anticentromere, markers of SSc, were not significantly increased. CONCLUSION: Extracutaneous manifestations of juvenile localized scleroderma developed in almost one-fourth of the children in this study. These extracutaneous manifestations often were unrelated to the site of the skin lesions and sometimes were associated with multiple organ involvement. The risk of developing SSc was very low. This subgroup of patients with juvenile localized scleroderma should be evaluated extensively, treated more aggressively, and monitored carefully.

Autoimmune Diseases↗