Medical Conditions

How is it Diagnosed?

Doctors may suspect JRA, along with several other possible conditions, when they see children with persistent joint pain or swelling, unexplained skin rashes and fever, swelling of lymph nodes or inflammation of internal organs.

Because there are many causes of joint pain and swelling, the doctor must rule out other conditions before diagnosing JRA. These include physical injury, bacterial or viral infection, Lyme disease, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, dermatomyositis, and some forms of cancer. These possibilities must be ruled out before a diagnosis of JRA can be confirmed.

JRA can be difficult to diagnose. All of the forms of this type of arthritis involve inflammation, but they also involve a variety of symptoms and require different kinds of treatment.

There is no one test that can be used to diagnose JRA. Laboratory tests, usually blood tests, may be used to help the doctor with a diagnosis. The following tests are often used. Click here for a Glossary of Diagnostic Tests.

• Blood tests
• CBC
• ESR
• ANA
• RA factor
• HLA antigens
• Immunoelectrophoresis - serum
• Blood culture

Other laboratory tests:

• Synovial fluid analysis
• Bone marrow
• ECG
• Slit-lamp exam of the eyes
• Radiological (x-ray) tests
• X-ray of a joint
• X-ray of the chest

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