Study of demographic, clinical characteristics and long term follow-up of Adult Onset Still's Disease in patients referred to rheumatology clinic of Tabriz university of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Adult Onset Still's Disease (AOSD) is a rare systemic inflammatory disorder of unknown cause. This disorder is characterized by fever, blurred rashes, and joint involvement. Due to the limited studies conducted in this field and the lack of a similar study in our region, this study aimed to investigate the demographic characteristics, clinical signs, and long-term follow-up results of AOSD. Methods: In this descriptive study, patients with AOSD referred to the Rheumatology Clinic of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in the period from the first of February of 2006 to the end of March of 2019 were studied. The records of all available patients were reviewed and the required information included demographic information (including age, sex, level of education, age of onset, time between onset and diagnosis, duration of illness, family history of disease, smoking) Clinical symptoms and long-term follow-up results of the disease were recorded. Finally, the data were entered into SPSS software version 22. Results: During this study, 31 patients were diagnosed with AOSD. The mean age of patients at the time of disease was 37 ± 13 years. 19 patients (61.3%) were female and 12 patients (38.7%) were male. The mean time interval between the onset of the disease and receiving effective treatment was 6.3 ± 5.5 months. The most common symptom in patients was fever, which was present in 87.1% of patients. The next stage was arthritis, rash and myalgia, which were reported in 58%, 54.8% and 45.2% of patients, respectively. The most common type of arthritis was polyarthritis, which was present in 40% of cases. Everyone with arthritis had wrist arthritis. Most patients were treated with prednisolone , hydroxychloroquin and methotrexate, which were used in 100% 83.9% and 74.2% of patients, respectively. Patients were followed up for a mean of 54 ± 33 months. The mean age of patients at the time of the study was 41± 13 years. Remission occurred in 27 patients (87.1%) with an average of 13 ± 10 months after treatment flare occurred in 15 patients (48.4%).