[Psoriatic arthritis in childhood. A comparison with subgroups of chronic juvenile arthritis]

We report on 48 children, 27 boys and 21 girls, with juvenile psoriatic arthritis. Onset during childhood differs in many ways from adult psoriatic arthritis. However, we detected a striking similarity to the subgroups of juvenile chronic arthritis in our patients. Pauciarticular onset was most prominent. Eight children presented with an early onset pauciarthritis, 33 patients showed a pauciarthritis type II with onset during school age; eight of them developed spondylarthritis with sacroiliitis. A seronegative polyarthritis was seen in six children. One girl suffered from seropositive disease. The diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis in childhood is often delayed since arthritis precedes psoriasis in many patients. In the absence of skin lesions the typical nail changes and a family history of psoriasis could suggest the diagnosis, especially in patients with an asymmetric arthritis and dactylitis.