Abstract

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is a disease or a group of diseases characterized by chronic synovitis and associated with a number of extra-articular inflammatory manifestations. It is the most common rheumatic disease in children. The aim of therapy in JRA is supression of articular inflammation, prevention of secondary deformities and control of systemic disease. Medical treatment of JRA is very complex. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are generally preferred at the onset of disease. But, the more intensive treatments such as high dose pulse methylprednisolone and methotrexate were given to the patient with life-threatening systemic complications. In this paper, new approaches to the pharmacologic treatment of JRA are reviewed.