SULFASALAZINE DESENSITIZATION IN A PEDIATRIC-PATIENT WITH JUVENILE CHRONIC ARTHRITIS

Sulphasalazine is an effective drug for the treatment of rheumatoid ar thritis in adults. In paediatric patients, the drug has been used to t reat inflammatory bowel disease and is currently under investigation f or the treatment of juvenile chronic arthritis. Although sulphasalazin e has a rather low incidence of serious side effects, one of the most common is skin rash, thought to be an allergic reaction. In adults, su lphasalazine desensitization programmes have proven to be effective fo r the treatment of this side effect. We present the case of a 7-year-o ld boy suffering from HLA-B 27 positive juvenile chronic arthritis. Af ter initiation of treatment with sulphasalazine he developed an allerg ic skin rash, but tolerated the drug well after completion of a desens itization programme. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a p aediatric patient with juvenile chronic arthritis successfully desensi tized with sulphasalazine.