Profile of new referrals to a single pediatric rheumatology center in Turkey.

Karadağ Ş. G., Sönmez H., Tanatar A., Çakmak F., Çakan M., Ayaz N.

Rheumatology international, vol.40, no.2, pp.313-321, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 40 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s00296-019-04421-6
  • Journal Name: Rheumatology international
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database
  • Page Numbers: pp.313-321
  • Keywords: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Pediatric rheumatology, Periodic fever syndromes, Rheumatic diseases, CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA, POLYARTERITIS-NODOSA, POLYMYOSITIS, DIAGNOSIS, REVISION, DISEASE, LEAGUE
  • Istanbul University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

To describe the demographic characteristics and clinical features of patients referred to a pediatric rheumatology outpatient clinic in Turkey and to compare the final diagnoses with the previous literature data. All new patients referred to pediatric rheumatology outpatient clinic of Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Research and Training Hospital between March 2018 and March 2019 were enrolled to the study. Demographic data, referral patterns, disease related features, physical examination findings and final diagnoses of new referrals were collected prospectively. A total of 2982 new referrals were evaluated in 1-year period. Among them 1561 (52%) had a diagnosis of a rheumatic disease. The frequencies of most common rheumatic diseases were; periodic fever syndromes (47.3%), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (18%) and vasculitis (14.4%), respectively. Non-rheumatic conditions were diagnosed in 1243 patients, among them orthopedic/mechanic problems (27.4%) were the most frequent ones followed by vitamin D deficiency (17.5%) and dermatological problems (9.8%). Patients with non-rheumatic conditions comprised a large part of the pediatric rheumatology outpatient clinic. National registries are required to establish the frequencies of pediatric rheumatic diseases in Turkey.