Re: Periarticular osteopenia

[Guest guest]

Sophie:I think it is fine to wait and talk to her doc when he is back from vacation. may indeed have some bone loss, a lot of our kids with JRA do. It is a combination of the disease process in and of itself, and sometimes also occurs with the use of prednisone and other corticosteroids.

The test that would be needed to follow up is a bone density scan. This will tell them if she has osteopenia. It can be treated. However, not all docs will treat it. Sometimes just bringing the disease (arthritis) under control will be treatment enough. My son had osteopenia, but he also had growth delay from the arthritis. He was treated and improved and now has normal bone density. However, since he was treated, opinions have changed and treating osteopenia is now considered controversial.

I would suggest that you hang tight and discuss with your doctor. However, if I were you I would definately want a bone density test. is young, and its likely to resolve with growth and control of her disease.

Just my 2 cents. I am pretty opinionated, and part of that comes from being a nurse : )

Let us know what happens. and Rob 18 JAS Periarticular osteopenia > Hi everyone,> We recently had 's hips xrayed b/c of some range of > motion > limitation. She had been xrayed in November 2006 and had > an MRI in > Dec 2006 and the MRI showed inflammation. We saw a > pediatric > orthopedic right after the MRI, but he didn't feel it was > necessary > to inject her hips then.> > Now she had another xray, and the results showed "mildly > suspicious > for periarticular osteopenia" in her left hip. Her > rheumatologist is > off on medical leave until June, so I had requested a copy > of the > results. Now I am left to wonder what does it mean and > where do we > go from here? I looked up periarticular osteopenia and it > means bone > loss. I am wondering if we should do an MRI b/c "mildly > suspicious" > seems inconclusive to me. I dropped off a copy of the > results to her > pediatrician and I am hoping he has some insight for us.> > It was devastating to read that may have bone loss, as I > feel > we have been fairly aggressive in treating her. I wish we > had gotten > a second opinion a year ago and had those injections done. > thanks > for listening!> Sophie> 's mom, systemic jra, age 7> >

[Guest guest]

HI Sophie- So good to hear from you! already had such great advice on the oseopoenia... Caitlin was diagnosed with that as well. I just wanted to add in a note on the hip injections... we had not had good luck with knee injections in the past. But Caitlin had both of her hips injected last June and it has made a world of difference. We weren't sure how long the results would last... but we are almost ten months and still doing great! How is doing overall? Best hopes to you- Colleen Mom to Caitlin, 10, systemicslevindoski <slevindoski@...> wrote: Hi everyone,We recently had 's hips xrayed b/c of some range of motion limitation. She had been xrayed in November 2006 and had an MRI in Dec 2006 and the MRI showed inflammation. We saw a pediatric orthopedic right after the MRI, but he didn't feel it was necessary to inject her hips then.Now she had another xray, and the results showed "mildly suspicious for periarticular osteopenia" in her left hip. Her rheumatologist is off on medical leave until June, so I had requested a copy of the results. Now I am left to wonder what does it mean and where do we go from here? I looked up periarticular osteopenia and it means bone loss. I am wondering if we should do an MRI b/c "mildly suspicious" seems inconclusive to me. I

dropped off a copy of the results to her pediatrician and I am hoping he has some insight for us.It was devastating to read that may have bone loss, as I feel we have been fairly aggressive in treating her. I wish we had gotten a second opinion a year ago and had those injections done. thanks for listening!Sophie's mom, systemic jra, age 7 __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Colleen

Nice to hear from you too! I was happy to read that Caitlin is doing

well. Happy birthday to Caitlin! It's amazing all that our kids go

through, and somehow they manage to grow up, just like any other

kid!

is doing fairly well. I feel like we are in a holding

pattern. She hasn't had any fevers or rashes for a very long time,

and her joints are in okay shape. Her biggest problems are her hips

and other complaints without swelling. She hasn't really grown at

all in the last year, and her lab tests are still abnormal. I sense

that we may change something in the future, but that we are waiting

for things to get worse before going down that path.

I was wondering how Caitlin tolerated the daily shots of kineret?

comes completely unglued every two weeks when we do the

Humira shots. Because it is only 2 times per month, we can handle

it. But I absolutely dread having to go through it every single

day! I know that if it puts her in medicated remission it would be

worth it, but on the other hand, the daily shots really seem

overwhelming.

Maybe we will be able to get 's hips injected, and that may

buy us some time. I am glad they really worked for Caitlin. It was

really had reading 's xray report. I know that joint damage

is a likelihood with systemic jra, I was just hoping we could somehow

get through it without any permanent damage.

Take care and I am very happy Caitlin is doing so well!

Sophie

> Hi everyone,

> We recently had 's hips xrayed b/c of some range of motion

> limitation. She had been xrayed in November 2006 and had an MRI in

> Dec 2006 and the MRI showed inflammation. We saw a pediatric

> orthopedic right after the MRI, but he didn't feel it was necessary

> to inject her hips then.

>

> Now she had another xray, and the results showed " mildly suspicious

> for periarticular osteopenia " in her left hip. Her rheumatologist

is

> off on medical leave until June, so I had requested a copy of the

> results. Now I am left to wonder what does it mean and where do we

> go from here? I looked up periarticular osteopenia and it means

bone

> loss. I am wondering if we should do an MRI b/c " mildly suspicious "

> seems inconclusive to me. I dropped off a copy of the results to

her

> pediatrician and I am hoping he has some insight for us.

>

> It was devastating to read that may have bone loss, as I

feel

> we have been fairly aggressive in treating her. I wish we had

gotten

> a second opinion a year ago and had those injections done. thanks

> for listening!

> Sophie

> 's mom, systemic jra, age 7

>

>

>

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>