Pediatric connective tissue disease

Connective tissue diseases are a group of disorders characterized by inflammation, edema, proliferation, and degeneration of connective tissues, leading to symptoms such as joint and muscle pain or stiffness. In recent years, they have also been broadly referred to as rheumatic diseases. Those occurring in childhood include rheumatic fever, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis syndromes (such as Henoch-Schönlein purpura, mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome, and infantile polyarteritis), dermatomyositis, scleroderma, and mixed connective tissue disease.