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Objective: To follow children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who had completed at least 6 months of the TRial of Early Aggressive Therapy (TREAT) clinical study for an additional 2 years, describing safety of early aggressive treatment, disease activity, function, and duration of clinical inactive disease (CID) during followup., Methods: Children were treated as per provider's discretion. Physician, patient/parent, and laboratory measures of disease status as well as safety information were collected at clinic visits every 3 months for up to 2 years., Results: Forty-eight children were followed for a mean of 28 months (range 12-42) beyond the end of the TREAT study. Half of patients were in CID for > 50% of their followup time. Overall, 88% of patients achieved CID at > 1 study visit and 54% achieved clinical remission while taking medication. Six patients were in CID for the duration of the study, and, of those, 2 achieved a full year of clinical remission while not taking medication. Active disease was mild: mean physician's global assessment 2.4, active joint count 3.5, parent global evaluation 2.4, Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire 0.32, erythrocyte sedimentation rate 19 mm/h, and morning stiffness 23 min. There were no serious adverse events or adverse events reported at grade 3 or higher of Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events., Conclusion: Early aggressive therapy in this cohort of patients with polyarticular JIA who had high initial disease activity was associated with prolonged periods of CID in the majority of patients during followup. Those not in CID had low levels of disease activity.

Objective: To determine the elapsed time while receiving aggressive therapy to the first observation of clinically inactive disease (CID), total duration of CID and potential predictors of this response in a cohort of children with recent onset of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (poly-JIA)., Methods: Eighty-five children were randomized blindly to methotrexate (MTX), etanercept, and rapidly tapered prednisolone (MEP) or MTX monotherapy and assessed for CID over 1 year of treatment. Patients who failed to achieve intermediary endpoints were switched to open-label MEP treatment., Results: Fifty-eight (68.2%) of the 85 patients achieved CID at 1 or more visits including 18 who received blinded MEP, 11 while receiving MTX monotherapy, and 29 while receiving open-label MEP. Patients starting on MEP achieved CID earlier and had more study days in CID compared to those starting MTX, but the differences were not significantly different. Patients given MEP (more aggressive therapy) earlier in the disease course were statistically more likely to have a higher proportion of followup visits in CID than those with longer disease course at baseline. Those who achieved American College of Rheumatology Pediatric 70 response at 4 months had a significantly greater proportion of followup visits in CID, compared to those who failed to achieve this improvement (p < 0.0001). Of the 32 patients who met criteria for CID and then lost CID status, only 3 fulfilled the definition of disease flare., Conclusion: Shorter disease duration prior to treatment, a robust response at 4 months, and more aggressive therapy result in a higher likelihood and longer duration of CID in patients with poly-JIA. The original trial from which data for this analysis were obtained is registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT 00443430.

Objective: To determine whether aggressive treatment initiated early in the course of rheumatoid factor (RF)-positive or RF-negative polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) can induce clinical inactive disease within 6 months., Methods: Between May 2007 and October 2010, a multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 2 aggressive treatments was conducted in 85 children ages 2-16 years with polyarticular JIA of <12 months' duration. Patients received either methotrexate (MTX) 0.5 mg/kg/week (maximum 40 mg) subcutaneously, etanercept 0.8 mg/kg/week (maximum 50 mg), and prednisolone 0.5 mg/kg/day (maximum 60 mg) tapered to 0 by 17 weeks (arm 1), or MTX (same dosage as arm 1), etanercept placebo, and prednisolone placebo (arm 2). The primary outcome measure was clinical inactive disease at 6 months. An exploratory phase determined the rate of clinical remission on medication (6 months of continuous clinical inactive disease) at 12 months., Results: By 6 months, clinical inactive disease had been achieved in 17 (40%) of 42 patients in arm 1 and 10 (23%) of 43 patients in arm 2 (χ(2) = 2.91, P = 0.088). After 12 months, clinical remission on medication was achieved in 9 patients in arm 1 and 3 patients in arm 2 (P = 0.053). There were no significant interarm differences in adverse events., Conclusion: Although this study did not meet its primary end point, early aggressive therapy in this cohort of children with recent-onset polyarticular JIA resulted in clinical inactive disease by 6 months and clinical remission on medication within 12 months of treatment in substantial proportions of patients in both arms., (Copyright © 2012 by the American College of Rheumatology.)