Henoch-Schonlein purpura in children

purpura in children. Influence of age on the incidence of nephritis and arthritisTo the editor I read with interest the article by Hamdan and Barqawi 1 on Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) in children: influence of age on the incidence of nephritis and arthritis.The authors had concluded that the occurrence of arthritis and nephritis in pediatric patients with HSP was age-related, and the incidence was more in children above 10 years of age.It is worthy to mention that the diagnosis of HSP in the studied patients was based on the old (1990) American College of Rheumatology criteria. 2However, the diagnostic criteria of HSP have been revised with the introduction of the recent European League Against Rheumatism/Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (EULAR/PReS) ( 2006) endorsed consensus criteria. 3These criteria composed of mandatory palpable purpura with at least one of the following 4 features: diffuse abdominal pain, acute arthritis or arithralgia, renal involvement (any hematuria or proteinuria), and any tissue biopsy showing predominant immunoglobulin A (IgA) deposition.Reconsidering the data of the study according to these revised criteria, the conclusion reached by the authors might be altered.