Migrating monopredominant arthritis in children of Assyrian ancestry

We describe an unusual form of arthritis affecting 3 Assyrian children to inspire a search for further cases to determine how unique it may be. After different patterns of onset, 3 of 4 children with arthritis from the Assyrian community in northern California had an unusual course of recurrent arthritis, predominantly in one joint at a time. There was rapid cartilage and bone destruction in involved joints. The 3 children are HLA-DR4. The 4th patient had a more typical childhood polyarticular course. Two of the first 3 patients had fever with attacks. None had rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody, or the HLA-B27 antigen. This unusual, severe, monopredominant but migrating arthritis appears to be particularly associated with Assyrian descent.