Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, systemic, febrile vasculitis that occurs during infancy and is the most common cause of childhood coronary artery disease. 1 Although, its etiology has not been definitively determined, recent studies have focused on the increased inflammatory cytokines in KD pathology. 2-4 The clinical features include an existence of fever persisting more than five days with mucocutaneous and lymphatic manifestations that are commonly self-limiting. However, the most serious complication is the coronary artery involvement that can be mortal. With the routine use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment, the incidence of coronary artery lesions (CALs) has declined from 23% to 8%. 5 On the other hand, some patients are at risk for resistance to IVIG treatment and development of CALs. 6 In Turkey, KD was reported as the second most common type of vasculitis in a nationwide study by Ozen et al. 7 , despite the real prevalence being unknown. Previous studies about KD from Turkey reported higher prevalence of coronary arterial involvement than Japanese children based studies. 8-12 Many studies have previously been conducted about the risk factors of KD, and patients with atypical age presentation, elevated acute phase reactants and liver function tests were reported as high risk. 10-12 The Japanese-based risk scoring systems such as that by Kobayashi, Egami, and Sano was reported as inadequate for fully determining the risks for IVIG resistance and CALs in Western populations living in North

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate demographic, clinical, and radiological characteristics of Turkish children with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis.Patients and methods: Between January 2008 and December 2018, a total of 28 patients (10 males, 18 females; median age: 12.5 years; range, 4.5 to 21 years) who were diagnosed with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis in three pediatric rheumatology centers were retrospectively analyzed. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings of the patients were recorded. Results: The median age at the time of diagnosis was 10.2 years. The median time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 6.5 months. The median follow-up was 18.5 months. The most frequent symptom at onset was arthralgia (75.0%). The most frequently involved bone was the femur (67.9%). Eight (63.6%) of 12 patients had at least one Mediterranean fever gene (MEFV) mutation, indicating a significantly higher prevalence than the Turkish population (14.8%). Five of these patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). All patients received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Other drugs were methotrexate (46.4%), sulfasalazine (39%), corticosteroids (25%), anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents (32%), pamidronate (25%), and colchicine (21.4%). Six of eight patients with MEFV mutations were administered with colchicine, and all of them responded to treatment. Conclusion:Clinical evolution and imaging investigations should be carefully performed to prevent any delay in the diagnosis of patients with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis. Based on our study results, FMF coexistence is worth investigating in patients with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis, particularly in the Turkish population.

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Background Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is the most common pediatric rheumatologic disorder with unknown etiology. Currently, no population-based data are available regarding the distribution of categories and frequency of uveitis in patients with JIA in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of JIA-associated uveitis (JIAU) and distribution of JIA categories in a Turkish JIA cohort. Methods This was a retrospective study of 500 randomized patients in four pediatric rheumatology clinics in Turkey. Results Oligoarticular JIA (oJIA) was the most common JIA disease category in this study cohort (38.8%). The frequencies of the other categories were as follows: enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), 23.2%; rheumatoid factor (RF)–negative polyarthritis, 15.6%; systemic arthritis, 12.2%; juvenile psoriatic arthritis, 5.2%; undifferentiated arthritis, 2.8%; and RF-positive polyarthritis, 2.2%. JIA-associated uveitis was observed in 6.8% of patients at a mean (Standard Deviation, SD) age of 9.1 (3.8) years over a mean JIA disease duration of 4 (1.9) years. Uveitis developed after joint disease, with a mean (SD) duration of 1.8 (1.9) years. Patients with oJIA had the highest rate of uveitis (12.9%) followed by patients with ERA (5.2%) and polyarticular RF-negative disease (3.8%). Compared with persistent oJIA, the extended oJIA category had a > 3-fold higher risk of uveitis (11.3% vs 27.7%; odds ratio, 3.38 [95% Confidence Interval, 1.09–10.4]). The most frequently administered drug after development of uveitis was tumor necrosis factor–alpha inhibitors (38.2%). Five patients (14.7%) had uveitis-related complications that required surgical intervention. Conclusions Turkish pediatric patients with JIA experience a lower frequency of oJIA and higher frequency of ERA than their white European counterparts; the occurrence of uveitis is also somewhat lower than expected. Geographic and ethnic factors may affect these differences and need further investigation.

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