To study the effect on the timing of menarche of the different subtypes of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JCA) and their therapies.
Auxological data (including the age at menarche of themselves and their mothers) were collected from 83 females regularly attending our rheumatological unit. Malnourished patients were excluded from the study. The patients were divided into groups on the basis of disease subtype and glucocorticoid (GC) therapy.
The timing of menarche was later in all the patients in comparison with their mothers and normal Italian girls, and those who had taken GC had a later menarche and less pubertal growth than those who had not. The girls with systemic JCA had a later menarche than those with the polyarticular or pauciarticular subtypes.
Our results show that pubertal development is compromised in girls with JCA, particularly if they have received GC therapy.