SENSORINEURAL HEARING LOSS IN JUVENILE CHRONIC ARTHRITIS

An 18-year-old female with pauciarticular juvenile chronic arthritis is described who has developed a profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The association of sensorineural hearing loss with juvenile chronic arthritis has not been reported before. KEY WORDS: Juvenile chronic arthritis, Sensorineural hearing loss. PAUCIARTICULAR juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) is the most frequent presentation of chronic arthritis in chil-dren. Although a number of subgroups are described, those children with antinuclear factor (ANF) are at high risk of developing chronic iridocyclitis. In this par-ticular subgroup the eye disease has a much greater morbidity than the joint disease which, although often recurrent during childhood, has a good functional outcome. Although sensorineural hearing loss has been described in association with a number of rheumat