Adult Still's Disease

Symptoms:

• fever
• joint pain
  • elbow pain
  • knee pain
  • hip pain
  • ankle pain
  • foot pain over small joints of the foot
  • shoulder pain
  • wrist pain
  • hand pain over small joints of the hand

• hip stiffness
• swelling, pain, and inflammation of more than 1 joint
  • shoulder, wrist, knee, elbow, hand, foot, or other joints

• measles-like rash
  • flesh colored, red, or salmon colored
  • particularly over the trunk, may be in other locations

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• glands, swollen
• flank pain or pain in the side getting increasingly worse over months
• blood pressure, low
• armpit lump
• unintentional weight loss
• breathing difficulty
  • splinting of ribs with breathing (e.g., bending over or holding the chest)

• chest pain
  • sharp or stabbing
  • began recently
  • aggravated by breathing deeply
  • aggravated by coughing
  • aggravated by moving around or changing position

• back pain
  • in the lower back
  • NOT behind the thigh and down the inside of the leg (non sciatic)

• abdominal pain getting increasingly more severe

Signs and tests:

Physical examination may show the presence of signs of pericarditis or pleural effusion. Listening to the chest with a stethoscope (auscultation) may reveal a heart murmur or pleural friction rub.

Tests used in the diagnosis of Adult Still's disease include:

• rheumatoid factor that is negative
• ANA test that is negative
• joint X-rays
• chest X-ray that may show pericarditis or pleural effusion