The risk of iridocyclitis in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

A retrospective study comparing 14 patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) complicated by chronic iridocyclitis (Group I) with an equal number of JRA patients without this complication (Group II) was conducted to determine which factors might aid in the earlier diagnosis of chronic iridocyclitis. Eleven patients in Group I had oligoarticular disease compared to 5 in Group II. Antinuclear antibody was found in 13 patients in Group I compared to only 2 in Group II. Only one of nine patients tested in Group I for the histocompatibility antigen W-27 was positive. The patient with oligoarticular disease and a positive ANA test should be followed closely by the ophthalmologist for the development of chronic iridocyclitis.