Journal of Clinical Pediatrics ›› 2026, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 489-498.doi: 10.12372/jcp.2026.26e0076

• Original Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Early differentiation of Kawasaki disease with joint symptoms and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis with Kawasaki disease-like symptoms: a single-center retrospective study

LIU Ziyao1,2, WANG Congying2, WANG Hongmao2, ZHANG Mingming2, XU Yingjie3, LAI Jianming3, NIU Wenquan4, LI Xiaohui1,5()   

  1. 1 Capital Institute of Pediatrics-Peking University Teaching Hospital, Beijing 100020, China
    2 Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Capital Center for Children's Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China
    3 Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Capital Center for Children's Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China
    4 Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing 100020, China
    5 Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 102218, China
  • Received:2026-01-23 Revised:2026-04-01 Accepted:2026-04-16 Published:2026-06-15 Online:2026-06-04
  • Contact: LI Xiaohui E-mail:lxhmaggie@pumc.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective Children with Kawasaki disease (KD) may have joint symptoms, and some children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) present with Kawasaki disease-like symptoms at the onset, with similar manifestations in the early stage to KD. The early differentiation between these two groups of children is very difficult. This study aims to analyze the differences in early clinical features between the two types of children, and to explore the early warning signs of children who present with KD-like symptoms accompanied by joint manifestations but are actually diagnosed with sJIA. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of children who visited the Capital Institute of Pediatrics-Peking University Teaching Hospital from January 2021 to August 2025 and whose early symptoms met the diagnostic criteria for Kawasaki Disease (KD) with joint symptoms. All children completed at least 6 months of clinical follow-up. According to follow-up outcomes, patients were divided into the sJIA group (revised diagnosis of sJIA during the follow-up) and the KD group (maintaining KD diagnosis during the follow-up). Differences in fever characteristics, joint involvement patterns, inflammatory indicators, coronary artery lesions, and treatment response were compared between the two groups. Results Among 71 children with KD and joint symptoms, there were 46 boys and 25 girls, with a median onset age of 4.3 (2.5-5.1) years, a median fever duration of 9.0 (7.5-12.5) days, and a median interval from onset to joint symptoms appearance of 9.0 (6.5-12.0) days. Fifty-five children (77.5%) had oligoarthritis, 56 (78.9%) had large joint arthritis, only 2 had small joint arthritis, and 13 had mixed arthritis. The incidence of coronary artery aneurysm was 12.7% (9/71). One patient developed macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) during follow-up. All children received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment, and 32 children showed no response to initial IVIg treatment. After 6 months of follow-up, 8 children were finally diagnosed with sJIA (sJIA group) and 63 maintained the diagnosis of KD (KD group). The median duration of fever in the sJIA group was 24.5 days, which was significantly longer than 8.0 days in the KD group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in CRP level at onset between the sJIA group and the KD group (P>0.05); the median CRP level in the KD group was significantly lower than that in the sJIA group after the first IVIg treatment (12.9 mg/L vs. 61.0 mg/L), and both ΔCRP and CRP reduction rate in the sJIA group were significantly lower than those in the KD group (all P<0.05). At 1-month follow-up, CRP level in the sJIA group was significantly higher than that in the KD group (P<0.001), while there was no significant difference in CRP level between the two groups at 6-month follow-up (P>0.05).At initial diagnosis, the median number of affected joints in the sJIA group was significantly higher than that in the KD group; The proportions of polyarthritis and mixed arthritis, the rates of wrist and interphalangeal joint involvement, and the incidence of synovial membrane thickening in the sJIA group were higher than those in the KD group, with statistically significant differences (all P<0.05). At 1-month and 6-month follow-up, the number of affected joints in the sJIA group was significantly higher than that in the KD group (both P<0.001). When duration of fever and number of affected joints were used as indicators to distinguish the sJIA group from the KD group, the AUC was 0.89 and 0.81, respectively. All sJIA children (100%, 8/8) showed no response to initial IVIg treatment, while the IVIg non-response rate in the KD group was 38.1% (24/63), with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of coronary artery lesions between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusions Prolonged fever duration, polyarthritis or mixed arthritis, involvement of wrist and interphalangeal small joints, synovial membrane thickening on imaging, persistent joint symptoms, and no response to IVIg treatment are early clinical warning indicators for the final diagnosis of sJIA in KD children with joint symptoms.

Key words: systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Kawasaki disease, arthritis, macrophage activation syndrome, child

CLC Number: 

  • R72