Abstract

REVIEW ON ACUTE ONSET STILL DISEASE

Nefcy Navas*, Dhanya Dharman and Shaiju S. Dharan

Abstract

Adult onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory disorder that affects the entire body (systemic disease). The cause of the disorder is unknown (idiopathic). Still’s disease was first described by an English physician, Sir George Frederic Still, who published in 1897 his monograph, On a Form of Chronic Joint Disease in Children, describing 22 children with signs and symptoms of the disease entity currently known as systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In 1971, Eric Bywaters described 14 adults with similar presentation with systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis.[1] Affected individuals may develop episodes of high, spiking fevers, a pink or salmon colored rash, joint pain, muscle pain, a sore throat and other symptoms associated with systemic inflammatory disease. The specific symptoms and frequency of episodes vary from one person to another and the progression of the disorder is difficult to predict. In some individuals, The disorder appears suddenly, disappears almost as quickly and may not return. In other people, adult onset Still's disease is a chronic, potentially disabling, condition. Various medications are used to treat individuals with adult onset Still's disease, affected individuals may respond to therapy differently. Adult onset Still's disease is the adult form of systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (juvenile Still's disease). Most individuals with adult onset Still’s disease develop some combination of the symptoms normally associated with systemic inflammatory disease.[2] Such symptoms include a spiking fever greater than 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius), joint pain (arthralgia) and inflammation (arthritis), muscle pain (myalgia), and a skin rash. The disorders are name after a British physician who first described systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in the medical literature in 1896. The term "adult Still's disease" was first used in the medial literature in 1971, but cases that fit the description of the disorder appear in the medical literature as early as the late 1800s.[4] The goal of our paper is to summarize the current state of knowledge on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, classification, biomarkers and complications of AoSD, as well as the treatment strategy at each stage of the disease course.

Keywords: .