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Although during the initial stages of COVID-19 pandemic, the pediatric population seemed to be less affected, a number of SARS-CoV-2-related manifestations emerged over time, the principal of which is the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Here we provide an update on the main pediatric disorders associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.MIS-C is novel postinfectious manifestation with clinical features similar to Kawasaki disease and characterized by intense systemic inflammation affecting multiple organs. Many children required intensive care therapy because of circulatory shock, usually of myocardial origin. Appropriate treatment with immunomodulatory therapies led to favorable outcomes in most patients, with recovery of overall health and cardiac dysfunction. In addition to MIS-C, a variety of other complications of COVID-19 in children have been described, including thrombotic events, neurologic manifestations, and chilblain-like lesions. There is still uncertainty about the true prevalence of long COVID in children and its distinction from pandemic-related complaints.The experience gained so far with MIS-C and the other SARS-CoV-2-related complications in children and adolescents will facilitate accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathophysiology of MIS-C and to determine the real impact of long-COVID in the pediatric age group.

OBJECTIVE To compare the frequency of joint and tendon disease on ultrasound (US) and clinical examination, and to investigate agreement between US and clinical evaluation in ankles with clinically active juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS US and clinical evaluation were performed independently in the joint and tendon compartments of 105 ankles. Gray-scale (GS) US and power Doppler (PD) US joint abnormalities were scored on a 4-point semiquantitative scale. A joint with a GS score ≥2 and/or a PD score ≥1 was defined as active on US. Agreement was tested using kappa statistics. RESULTS A total of 163 joints in 89 ankles had active synovitis on US. The tibiotalar (TT) joint was the most commonly affected joint on US and on clinical evaluation. The intertarsal (IT) joint and the subtalar (ST) joint were the second in frequency on US and on clinical evaluation, respectively. Tenosynovitis was found more commonly on US than on clinical evaluation (70.5% and 32.4%, respectively), and was more frequent in the medial and lateral than in the anterior tendon compartment. Isolated tenosynovitis was detected on US in 12 of 105 ankles. Agreement between US and clinical evaluation for detection of active synovitis and tenosynovitis was less than acceptable (κ

To develop and validate a weighted score, the ONCOREUM score, that aids physicians in differentiation of cancer with arthropathy from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).Data were extracted from the ONCOREUM Study, a multicenter, cross-sectional investigation aimed at comparing children with cancer and arthropathy to children with JIA. Three statistical approaches were applied to develop the ONCOREUM score and assess the role of each variable in the diagnosis of cancer with arthropathy, including 2 approaches based on multivariable stepwise selection (models 1 and 2) and 1 approach on a Bayesian model averaging method (model 3). The β coefficients estimated in the models were used to assign score points. Considering that not missing a child with cancer is a mandatory clinical objective, discriminating performance was assessed by fixing sensitivity at 100%. Score performance was evaluated in both developmental and validation samples (representing 80% and 20% of the study population, respectively).Patients with cancer and arthropathy (49 with solid tumors and 46 with hematologic malignancies without peripheral blasts) and 677 patients with JIA were included. The highest area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) in the validation data set was yielded by model 1, which was selected to constitute the ONCOREUM score. The score ranged from -18 to 21.8, and the optimal cutoff obtained through ROC analysis was -6. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of the cutoff in the validation sample were 100%, 70%, and 0.85, respectively.The ONCOREUM score is a powerful and easily applicable tool that may facilitate early differentiation of malignancies with articular complaints from JIA.

Objective The objective of this study was to use real-world data to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of canakinumab in Italian patients with systemic JIA (sJIA). Methods A retrospective multicentre study of children with sJIA was performed. Clinical features, laboratory parameters and adverse events were collected at baseline, and 6 and 12 months after starting canakinumab. The primary outcome measure of effectiveness was clinically inactive disease (CID) off glucocorticoids (GCs) treatment at 6 months. Results A total of 80 children from 15 Italian centres were analysed. Of the 12 patients who started canakinumab in CID while receiving anakinra, all maintained CID. Of the 68 with active disease at baseline, 57.4% achieved CID off GCs at 6 months and 63.8% at 12 months. In univariate analysis, the variables significantly related to non-response were number of active joints (NAJs) ≥5, history of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and disease duration. Multivariate analysis confirmed the association between non-response and NAJs ≥5 [odds ratio (OR) 6.37 (95% CI: 1.69, 24.02), P = 0.006] and between non-response and history of MAS [OR 3.53 (95% CI: 1.06, 11.70), P = 0.039]. No serious adverse events were recorded in this series. There were two cases of MAS during canakinumab, leading to a rate of 2.9 episodes per 100 patient years. Conclusion We have confirmed, using real-world data, the efficacy of canakinumab in sJIA in a multicentric cohort. History of MAS and higher NAJ were associated with lower probability of achieving CID.

Background Intra-articular venous malformations (IAVM) are rare benign vascular anomalies that usually affect young patients and most common locate in the knee. The terminology of these lesions is still ill-defined, as they are often termed in the literature as synovial hemangiomas. Early diagnosis can be difficult, because they usually present with nonspecific clinical manifestations that are similar those of other rheumatic diseases, especially juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Case series We conducted a retrospective analysis of five pediatric patients admitted to our units for recurrent swelling of the knee, and compared their characteristics with those of literature reports. The average age at first symptom and time from onset to diagnosis was 3.9 years (range 18 months-7 years) and 3.5 years (range 1-7 years), respectively. In our patients, an initial misdiagnosis of JIA, bleeding disorder or traumatic arthropathy was made. On MRI imaging, the features of the lesion were similar in all patients, and were marked by isointense-to-hypointense signal in T1-weighted images, and hyperintense signal in T2-weighted images. When performed, arthrocentesis led to aspiration of bloody fluid. The diagnosis was confirmed with a biopsy and histopathologic assessment in all patients. Open surgery enabled complete excision of the mass and was followed by stable remission over time in all cases. Conclusions Our report highlights the challenges that may be posed by the detection of knee IAVM and the frequent long delay between onset of symptoms and diagnosis. The key elements for early recognition include careful assessment of patient history, demonstration of bloody fluid on arthrocentesis, and proper interpretation of MRI scanning.

Background There is mounting evidence on the existence of a Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS), sharing similarities with Kawasaki Disease (KD). The main outcome of the study were to better characterize the clinical features and the treatment response of PIMS-TS and to explore its relationship with KD determining whether KD and PIMS are two distinct entities. Methods The Rheumatology Study Group of the Italian Pediatric Society launched a survey to enroll patients diagnosed with KD (Kawasaki Disease Group – KDG) or KD-like (Kawacovid Group - KCG) disease between February 1st 2020, and May 31st 2020. Demographic, clinical, laboratory data, treatment information, and patients’ outcome were collected in an online anonymized database (RedCAP®). Relationship between clinical presentation and SARS-CoV-2 infection was also taken into account. Moreover, clinical characteristics of KDG during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (KDG-CoV2) were compared to Kawasaki Disease patients (KDG-Historical) seen in three different Italian tertiary pediatric hospitals (Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste; AOU Meyer, Florence; IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa) from January 1st 2000 to December 31st 2019. Chi square test or exact Fisher test and non-parametric Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test were used to study differences between two groups. Results One-hundred-forty-nine cases were enrolled, (96 KDG and 53 KCG). KCG children were significantly older and presented more frequently from gastrointestinal and respiratory involvement. Cardiac involvement was more common in KCG, with 60,4% of patients with myocarditis. 37,8% of patients among KCG presented hypotension/non-cardiogenic shock. Coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) were more common in the KDG. The risk of ICU admission were higher in KCG. Lymphopenia, higher CRP levels, elevated ferritin and troponin-T characterized KCG. KDG received more frequently immunoglobulins (IVIG) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (81,3% vs 66%; p = 0.04 and 71,9% vs 43,4%; p = 0.001 respectively) as KCG more often received glucocorticoids (56,6% vs 14,6%; p Conclusion Our study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection might determine two distinct inflammatory diseases in children: KD and PIMS-TS. Older age at onset and clinical peculiarities like the occurrence of myocarditis characterize this multi-inflammatory syndrome. Our patients had an optimal response to treatments and a good outcome, with few complications and no deaths.

Summary Background Presenting symptoms of childhood cancers might mimic those of rheumatic diseases. However, the evidence available to guide differential diagnosis remains scarce. Preventing wrong or delayed diagnosis is therefore important to avoid incorrect administration of glucocorticoid or immunosuppressive therapy and worsening of prognosis. As such, we aimed to assess the prevalence and characteristics of presenting musculoskeletal manifestations in patients at cancer onset and to identify the factors that differentiate childhood malignancies with arthropathy from juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Methods We did a multicentre, cross-sectional study at 25 paediatric haemato-oncology centres and 22 paediatric rheumatology centres in Italy. We prospectively recruited patients who were younger than 16 years that were newly diagnosed with cancer or juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We excluded patients with glucocorticoid pre-treatment (>1 mg/kg per day of oral prednisone or equivalent for ≥2 consecutive weeks). We collected data for patients with a new diagnosis of cancer or juvenile idiopathic arthritis using an electronic case report form on a web-based platform powered by the Cineca Interuniversity Consortium. The primary outcome was to describe the frequency and characteristics of musculoskeletal manifestations at cancer onset; and the secondary outcome was to identify factors that could discriminate malignancies presenting with arthropathy, with or without other musculoskeletal symptoms, from juvenile idiopathic arthritis using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Findings Between May 1, 2015, and May 31, 2018, 1957 patients were eligible, of which 1277 (65%) had cancer and 680 (35%) had juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Musculoskeletal symptoms occurred in 324 (25% [95% CI 23·0–27·8]) of 1277 patients with cancer, of whom 207 had arthropathy. Patients with malignant bone tumours had the highest frequency of musculoskeletal symptoms (53 [80%] of 66), followed by patients with Langerhans histiocytosis (16 [47%] of 34), leukaemia (189 [32%] of 582), soft-tissue sarcomas (16 [24%] of 68), and neuroblastoma (21 [19%] of 109). In the 324 patients with cancer and musculoskeletal symptoms, the most common complaints were joint pain (199 [61%]), followed by limb bone pain (112 [35%]). Joint involvement had a prevalent monoarticular pattern (100 [48%] of 207) and oligoarticular pattern (86 [42%] had 2–4 joints involved and 20 [10%] had >4 joints involved), with the most frequently involved joints being the hip (88 [43%] of 207) and knee (81 [39%]). On multivariable analysis, limb bone pain was the independent variable most strongly associated with cancer (odds ratio [OR] 87·80 [95% CI 18·89–408·12]), followed by weight loss (59·88 [6·34–565·53]), thrombocytopenia (12·67 [2·40–66·92]), monoarticular involvement (11·30 [4·09–31·19]), hip involvement (3·30 [1·13–9·61]), and male sex (2·40 [1·03–5·58]). Factors independently associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis were morning stiffness (OR 0·04 [95% CI 0·01–0·20]), joint swelling (0·03 [0·01–0·09]), and involvement of the small hand joints (0·02 [0–1·05]). Interpretation Our study provides detailed information about presenting musculoskeletal manifestations of childhood cancers and highlights the clinical and laboratory features that are most helpful in the differential diagnosis with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Funding Associazione Lorenzo Risolo.

Objective.To develop and test shortened versions of the Manual Muscle Test-8 (MMT-8) in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM).Methods.Construction of reduced tools was based on a retrospective analysis of individual scores of MMT-8 muscle groups in 3 multinational datasets. The 4 and 6 most frequently impaired muscle groups were included in MMT-4 and MMT-6, respectively. Metrologic properties of reduced tools were assessed by evaluating construct validity, internal consistency, discriminant ability, and responsiveness to change.Results.Neck flexors, hip extensors, hip abductors, and shoulder abductors were included in MMT-4, whereas MMT-6 also included elbow flexors and hip flexors. Both shortened tools revealed strong correlations with MMT-8 and other muscle strength measures. Correlations with other JDM outcome measures were in line with predictions. Internal consistency was good (0.88–0.96) for both MMT-4 and MMT-6. Both reduced tools showed strong ability to discriminate between disease activity states, assessed by the caring physician or a parent (P < 0.001), and between patients whose parents were satisfied or not satisfied with illness course (P < 0.001). Responsiveness to change (assessed by both standardized response mean and relative efficiency) of MMT-4 and, to a lesser degree, MMT-6, was slightly superior to that of MMT-8.Conclusion.Overall, the metrologic performance of MMT-4 and MMT-6 was comparable to that of the other established muscle strength tools, which indicates that they may be suitable for use in clinical practice and research, including clinical trials. The measurement properties of these tools should be further tested in other patient populations and evaluated prospectively.

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) represent a distinct group of patients. The objectives of this study were: To compare adolescent prognosis to that of younger children, to compare the results achieved with the two consecutive protocols in both age groups, to analyze clinical characteristics of children and adolescents. Between 1996 and 2017, 1759 patients aged &lt, 18 years were evaluable for the study. Five hundred and sixty patients were treated with the MH&rsquo, 96 protocol and 1199 with the LH2004 protocol. Four hundred and eighty-two were adolescents aged &ge, 15 years. Patients in both age groups showed very favorable prognoses. In particular, OS improved with the LH2004 protocol, especially in the adolescent group and in the low risk group, where radiation therapy was spared. Adolescent characteristics differed significantly from the children&rsquo, s according to sex, histology, and the presence of symptoms. Remarkable is the decrease both in mixed cellularity in the children and in low stages in both age groups in the LH2004 protocol with respect to MH&rsquo, 96 protocol. Based on our experience, adopting pediatric protocols for AYA does not compromise patient outcomes.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:38:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-11-01 Healthway Objective. To develop a composite disease activity score for systemic JIA (sJIA) and to provide preliminary evidence of its validity. Methods. The systemic Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (sJADAS) was constructed by adding to the four items of the original JADAS a fifth item that aimed to quantify the activity of systemic features. Validation analyses were conducted on patients with definite or probable/possible sJIA enrolled at first visit or at the time of a flare, who had active systemic manifestations, which should include fever. Patients were reassessed 2 weeks to 3 months after baseline. Three versions were examined, including ESR, CRP or no acute-phase reactant. Results. A total of 163 patients were included at 30 centres in 10 countries. The sJADAS was found to be feasible and to possess face and content validity, good construct validity, satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.64-0.65), fair ability to discriminate between patients with different disease activity states and between those whose parents were satisfied or not satisfied with illness outcome (P < 0.0001 for both), and strong responsiveness to change over time (standardized response mean 2.04-2.58). Overall, these properties were found to be better than those of the original JADAS and of DAS for RA and of Puchot score for adult-onset Still's disease. Conclusion. The sJADAS showed good measurement properties and is therefore a valid instrument for the assessment of disease activity in children with sJIA. The performance of the new tool should be further examined in other patient cohorts that are evaluated prospectively. UOC Clinica Pediatrica e Reumatologia IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini Dipartimento di Neuroscienze Riabilitazione Oftalmologia Genetica e Scienze Materno-Infantili (DiNOGMI) Università degli Studi di Genova Dipartimento di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini Faculty of Medicine Ain Shams University Pediatric Rheumatology Division Institute of Child Health Section of Pediatric Rheumatology SRCC Children's Hospital Rheumatology Division Pediatric Department Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital Mahidol University Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic R G Kar Medical College Division of Rheumatology IRCCS Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù Division of Pediatric Rheumatology Institute of Child Health Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Faculty of Medicine Benha University Faculty of Medicine Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine Tanta University Faculty of Medicine Cairo University Pediatric Rheumatology Division Adolescent Health Care Unit Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Department of Internal Medicine Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Servicio de Inmunología y Reumatología Hospital de Pediatría Garrahan Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health University of Milan Division of Rheumatology University Hospital Meyer Rheumatology Division National Medical Research Center of Children's Health Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University Department of Immunology Rheumatology and Allergy Queen Rania Children's Hospital Saint-Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University UOC Pediatria a Media Intensità di Cure Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Rheumatology Department Faculty of Medicine Suez Canal University Department of Pediatrics King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center Dipartimento Promise G. D'Alessandro Università degli Studi di Palermo Pediatric Department Hospital das Clínicas Botucatu Medicine University UNESP UOC Pediatria Servizio di Immuno-Reumatologia Pediatrica Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Gaetano Martino Messina UO Nefrologia e Reumatologia Pediatrica Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Gaetano Martino Department of Pediatrics School of Medicine Institute of Medical Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences Kanazawa University Pediatric Unit Ospedale Vito Fazzi Pediatric Unit AON SS Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo Children's Hospital Pediatric Department Hospital das Clínicas Botucatu Medicine University UNESP

Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) are heterogeneous disorders, characterized by variable clinical and immunological features. National PID registries offer useful insights on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and natural history of these disorders. In 1999, the Italian network for primary immunodeficiencies (IPINet) was established. We report on data collected from the IPINet registry after 20 years of activity. A total of 3352 pediatric and adult patients affected with PIDs are registered in the database. In Italy, a regional distribution trend of PID diagnosis was observed. Based on the updated IUIS classification of 2019, PID distribution in Italy showed that predominantly antibody deficiencies account for the majority of cases (63%), followed by combined immunodeficiencies with associated or syndromic features (22.5%). The overall age at diagnosis was younger for male patients. The minimal prevalence of PIDs in Italy resulted in 5.1 per 100.000 habitants. Mortality was similar to other European registries (4.2%). Immunoglobulin replacement treatment was prescribed to less than one third of the patient cohort. Collectively, this is the first comprehensive description of the PID epidemiology in Italy.

INTRODUCTION: Idiopathic neutropenia (IN) of childhood is a benign, self-limiting disorder usually occurring in the first 3 years of life that differs from primary autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) because anti neutrophil antibodies are not detected on repeated indirect testing over time(1). Chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN) is a well characterized disorder of elderly with a peculiar immunological pattern(2). Pediatric AIN patients, with atypical features represented by longer disease duration (Long Lasting) or diagnosed later (Late Onset), were recently shown by our group to display a different immune-hematological profile vs typical primary AIN(3). Atypical pediatric IN subjects, i.e. diagnosed later or with longer disease duration, though occasionally reported, were never systematically investigated. In the present study we analyzed a cohort of young patients with atypical IN and AIN, diagnosed after the age of 3 years or with longer disease duration, aiming to identify an immunological signature that might predict their different outcome from classical AIN and IN of infancy. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: to analyze a cohort of patients affected with AIN and IN rising > 3 years of age and with duration >12 months or rising MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical, immunological and genetic data (NGS panel of 160 immunodeficiency/disimmunity genes) of eligible patients were collected from the database of the Italian Neutropenia Registry. RESULTS: From 2005 to 2020, data from 46 patients (24F, 24 autoimmune and 22 Idiopathic Neutropenia) were retrieved. Median age at onset was 11.2 years (IQR13.2-16.7), median follow-up was 4.3 years (IQR 3.2-6.8). Neither autoimmunity nor additional cytopenias to neutropenia were present at onset. Cumulative incidence at 5 years of autoimmune manifestations (thyroiditis, arthritis, vitiligo, recurrent skin rash) was 11.8% (CI 95% 4.3-30). Throughout the follow up, infections occurred in 32/46 (70%) subjects and in only 16% were severe (meningitis, recurrent pneumonia, sepsis and pericarditis). Infections sites were upper respiratory (in 84% of subjects mouth and gums (47%), and skin (40%) ear (25%), lung (19%) and urinary tract (12%). Fever of unknown origin was detected in 40% of patients. Recurrent infections (more than 3/y) involved mouth (85%) and ear (88%). White Blood Cell, Absolute Neutrophil and Lymphocyte counts retrieved at the beginning of the study, in the middle and at the end of follow up are shown in Table 1. Leucocytes and Lymphocytes at the end of follow up were significantly lower than values seen at diagnosis (p < 0.001) whereas neutrophil count remained stable (p=ns). One third of the cohort had lower values than normal of CD19+ and CD3-CD56+CD16+ cells. B switched memory CD27+/IgD-/IgM- (in 94%) were lower, while marginal zone B lymphocytes CD27+/IgD+/IgM+ (62%) and Tγδ cells (70%) were increased than the normal population according to a pattern comparable to that described in chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN). Immunoglobulin serum levels (IgA, IgG and IgM) were below the normal value in 7.5% of the population, but specularly a small subset (7.5%) of IN showed an increase of IgM was seen, similar to what already descibed in adult CIN. The genetic study carried out in 32 patients showed in 5 (16%) pathogenic variants: of immunodeficit/dysregulation (2 TACI, 1 TINF2, 1 CARD11) and in 9 cases (28%) VUS in genes of the same groups (1CARD11, 4CASP10,1DDX41/SOCS1, 1TSR2/DCLRE1c, 1PIK3D, 1TERT/TACI). CONCLUSIONS: Atypical IN and AIN (of longer duration or occurring in advanced pediatric age) are different from those appearing in early infancy. They seem to display dysimmune/autoimmune features that is some case is proven to rely on a genetic dysimmune background. They might represent an anticipation of more complex autoimmune disorders which may fully manifest later in life. Interstingly these patients seem to share some features with CIN of adults. Definitive conclusions will be drawn by applying more comprehensive genetic nalysis (WES and WGS) on larger group of subjects. References: 1. Farruggia et al, Am J Hematol. 2019, 94:216-222 2. Mavroudi I et al, Clin Immunol. 2017 Oct;183:75-84 3. Fioredda F et al, Blood Adv 2020 Nov 24;4:5644-5649 Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Italian language.The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents.The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the 3 Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha, interscale correlations, test-retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity).A total of 1296 JIA patients (7.2% systemic, 59.5% oligoarticular, 21.4% RF negative polyarthritis, 11.9% other categories) and 100 healthy children, were enrolled in 18 centres. The JAMAR components discriminated well healthy subjects from JIA patients except for the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Psychosocial Health (PsH) subscales. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances.In conclusion, the Italian version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and clinical research.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a composite DAS for JDM and provide preliminary evidence of its validity. METHODS: The Juvenile DermatoMyositis Activity Index (JDMAI) is composed of four items: physician's global assessment of overall disease activity ; parent's/child's global assessment of child's wellbeing ; measurement of muscle strength ; and assessment of skin disease activity. The score of the JDMAI is the arithmetic sum of the scores of each individual component. Six versions of the JDMAI were tested, which differed in the tools used to assess the third and fourth items. Validation procedures were conducted using three large multinational patient samples including a total of 627 patients. RESULTS: The JDMAI was found to possess face and content validity, good construct validity, satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.58- 0.89), fair responsiveness to clinically important change (standardized response mean = 0.82-3.12 among patients improved) and strong capacity to discriminate patients judged as being in the state of inactive disease or low, moderate or high disease activity by the physician (P < 0.001) or whose parents were satisfied or not satisfied with the course of their child's illness (P < 0.001). Overall, the six versions of the JDMAI showed similar metrological performances in validation analyses. CONCLUSION: The JDMAI was found to possess good measurement properties in a large population of patients with a wide range of disease activity, and is, therefore, suitable for use in both clinical and research settings. The final version of the JDMAI will be selected after its prospective validation

Background Assessment of muscle strength is a fundamental component of the clinical evaluation of children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). Regular measurement of muscle strength in daily care requires the availability of simple and quick muscle assessment tools. Objectives To investigate whether reduced versions of the MMT8 and CMAS are equally reliable as the original tools. Methods The following 4 reduced instruments were devised: 1) MMT4 (score 0-40), including 4 items of MMT8 (neck flexors, deltoid middle, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius); 2) MMT6 (score 0-60), composed of the same items of MMT4 plus biceps brachii and quadriceps; 3) head lift time of CMAS (0-120 seconds or 0-5 points); 4) sum of CMAS head lift time in points and the 6 sit-ups maneuvers of CMAS (score 0-11). Validation was conducted according to OMERACT filter on 213 patients followed in standard clinical care at 13 international pediatric rheumatology centers and evaluated at baseline and after a median of 5.9 months. Results All reduced instruments revealed strong correlations (r > 0.7) with muscle activity VAS and total DAS, moderate correlations (r = 0.4-0.7) with physician’s global VAS, muscle DAS, skin activity VAS, pain VAS, parent’s overall wellbeing VAS, and CK. Correlations with skin DAS and fatigue VAS were low (r Conclusion We found that reduced versions of the MMT8 and CMAS have good metrologic properties and perform similarly to the original tools in a population of patients followed in standard clinical care. Our results suggest that these simplified and shortened instruments could serve as surrogate for the complete measures in routine practice, particularly in a busy clinical setting. References [1] Measures of adult and juvenile dermatomyositis, polimyositis, and inclusion body myositis. Rider LG, Werth VP, Huber AM, Alexanderson H, Rao AP, et al. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken)2011;63:S118-57. [2] Clinical assessment in juvenile dermatomyositis. Ravelli A, Ruperto N, Trail L, Felici E, Sala E, et al. Autoimmunity2006;39:197-203. Disclosure of Interests Silvia Rosina: None declared, Giulia Camilla Varnier: None declared, Angela Pistorio: None declared, Alessandro Consolaro Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Pfizer, Clarissa Pilkington: None declared, Susan Maillard: None declared, Adele Civino: None declared, Elena Tsitsami: None declared, Jaime de Inocencio: None declared, Marija Jelusic: None declared, Jelena Vojinovic: None declared, Graciela Espada: None declared, Balahan Makay Speakers bureau: Enzyvant, Novartis, Roche, Abbvie, Maria Katsikas: None declared, Polixeni Pratsidou-Gertsi: None declared, Dragana Lazarevic: None declared, Anand Prahalad Rao: None declared, Nicolino Ruperto Grant/research support from: The Gaslini Hospital, where NR works as full-time public employee, has received contributions (> 10.000 USD each) from the following industries in the last 3 years: BMS, Eli-Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, F Hoffmann-La Roche, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Sobi. This funding has been reinvested for the research activities of the hospital in a fully independent manner, without any commitment with third parties., Consultant for: Received honoraria for consultancies or speaker bureaus (

Background: After nearly two decades from the start of the Biologic era, systematic analyses of patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have shown a high frequency of attainment of inactive disease (ID) and satisfactory levels of physical function and quality of life. However, whether and to what extent the disease prognosis has improved in comparison with the methotrexate (MTX) era is still uncertain. Objectives: To compare the long-term disease state, in terms of activity and damage, of children with JIA who had their disease onset in MTX or Biologic eras. Methods: Patients were included in MTX or Biologic era cohort depending on whether their disease presentation occurred before or after January 2000. Patients in the MTX era cohort and part of the patients in the Biologic era cohort were taken from a previous cross-sectional study published by our group,1 which enrolled 310 patients with disease onset between December 1986 and December 2002. An additional sample of patients with onset in the Biologic era was enrolled in a subsequent prospective cross-sectional study, which included all consecutive patients meeting the ILAR criteria for JIA, who were seen consecutively at the Istituto Gaslini of Genoa, Italy, between January 2015 and June 2017. All patients had disease duration ≥ 5 years and underwent a prospective cross-sectional assessment, which included measurement of disease activity and damage. ID and low disease activity (LDA) states were defined according to Wallace, JADAS10 and cJADAS10 criteria. Articular and extra-articular damage was assessed with the Juvenile Arthritis Damage Index (JADI). Results: MTX and Biologic era cohorts included 239 and 269 patients, respectively. Patients were divided in the “functional phenotypes” of oligoarthritis and polyarthritis. At cross-sectional visit, patients in the Biologic era cohort with either oligoarthritis or polyarthritis had consistently higher frequencies of ID and LDA than patients in the MTX era cohort. The measurement of disease damage at cross-sectional visit revealed that the frequency of impairment of > 1 JADI-Articular items was higher in MTX than in Biologic era cohort (17.6% versus 11% in oligoarthritis and 52.6% versus 21.8% in polyarthritis). Likewise, frequency of involvement of > 1 JADI-Extraarticular item was higher in MTX than in Biologic era cohort (26.5% versus 16.2% in oligoarthritis and 31.4% versus 13.5% in polyarthritis). The sole JADI items that were detected in more than 5% of patients in the Biologic era cohort were temporomandibular damage in oligoarthritis and polyarthritis, ankle damage in polyarthritis and leg-length inequality in oligoarthritis. The analysis of the temporal trend of damage development over the 25 years of our analysis (1986-2011) highlighted the marked decrease in damage over time and the more pronounced decline in the Biologic era (Figure 1). Conclusion: Our study provides evidence of the remarkable prognostic improvement obtained with the recent therapeutic advance in JIA. References: [1] Solari et al. Arthritis Care Res. 2008;59:1571–9. Disclosure of Interests: Gabriella Giancane: None declared, Valentina Muratore: None declared, Valentina Marzetti: None declared, Neus Quilis Marti: None declared, Belen Serrano Benavente: None declared, Francesca Bagnasco: None declared, Alessandra Alongi: None declared, Adele Civino: None declared, Lorenzo Quartulli: None declared, Alessandro Consolaro Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Pfizer, Angelo Ravelli Grant/research support from: Angelini, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, and Roche, Consultant for: Angelini, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, and Roche, Speakers bureau: Angelini, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, and Roche

Objective To compare the long-term disease state, in terms of activity and damage, of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who had their disease onset in methotrexate (MTX) or biologic eras. Methods Patients were included in MTX or biologic era cohort depending on whether their disease presentation occurred before or after January 2000. All patients had disease duration ≥ 5 years and underwent a prospective cross-sectional assessment, which included measurement of disease activity and damage. Inactive disease (ID) and low disease activity (LDA) states were defined according to Wallace, JADAS10, and cJADAS10 criteria. Articular and extraarticular damage was assessed with the Juvenile Arthritis Damage Index (JADI). Results MTX and biologic era cohorts included 239 and 269 patients, respectively. Patients were divided in the “functional phenotypes” of oligoarthritis and polyarthritis. At cross-sectional visit, patients in the biologic era cohort with either oligoarthritis or polyarthritis had consistently higher frequencies of ID and LDA by all criteria. The measurement of disease damage at cross-sectional visit revealed that the frequency of impairment of > 1 JADI-Articular items was higher in MTX than in biologic era cohort (17.6% versus 11% in oligoarthritis and 52.6% versus 21.8% in polyarthritis). Likewise, frequency of involvement of > 1 JADI-Extraarticular items was higher in the MTX than in the biologic era cohort (26.5% versus 16.2% in oligoarthritis and 31.4% versus 13.5% in polyarthritis). Conclusion Our study provides evidence of the remarkable outcome improvement obtained with the recent therapeutic advance in JIA.

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-05T16:54:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-04-01 IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini Background To our knowledge, the characteristics and burden of childhood arthritis have never been studied on a worldwide basis. We aimed to investigate, with a cross-sectional study, the prevalence of disease categories, treatment methods, and disease status in patients from across different geographical areas and from countries with diverse wealth status. Methods In this multinational, cross-sectional, observational cohort study, we asked international paediatric rheumatologists from specialised centres to enrol children with a diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, according to International League of Associations for Rheumatology criteria, who were seen consecutively for a period of 6 months. Each patient underwent retrospective and cross-sectional assessments, including measures of disease activity and damage and questionnaires on the wellbeing and quality of life of the children. We qualitatively compared the collected data across eight geographical areas, and we explored an association between disease activity and damage and a country's gross domestic product (GDP) with a multiple logistic regression analysis. Findings Between April 4, 2011, and Nov 21, 2016, 9081 patients were enrolled at 130 centres in 49 countries, grouped into eight geographical areas. Systemic arthritis (125 [33.0%] of 379 patients) and enthesitis-related arthritis (113 [29.8%] of 379) were more common in southeast Asia, whereas oligoarthritis was more prevalent in southern Europe (1360 [56.7%] of 2400) and rheumatoid factor-negative polyarthritis was more frequent in North America (165 [31.5%] of 523) than in the other areas. Prevalence of uveitis was highest in northern Europe (161 [19.1%] of 845 patients) and southern Europe (450 [18.8%] of 2400) and lowest in Latin America (54 [6.4%] of 849), Africa and Middle East (71 [5.9%] of 1209), and southeast Asia (19 [5.0%] of 379). Median age at disease onset was lower in southern Europe (3.5 years, IQR 1.9-7.3) than in other regions. Biological, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were prescribed more frequently in northern Europe and North America than in other geographical settings. Patients living in countries with lower GDP had greater disease activity and damage than those living in wealthier countries. Damage was associated with referral delay. Interpretation Our study documents a variability in prevalence of disease phenotypes and disparities in therapeutic choices and outcomes across geographical areas and wealth status of countries. The greater disease burden in lowerresource settings highlights the need for public health efforts aimed at improving equity in access to effective treatments and care for juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Copyright (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Univ Genoa, Ist Giannina Gaslini, IRCCS, Clin Paediat & Rheumatol, Genoa, Italy Univ Genoa, Ist Giannina Gaslini, IRCCS, Epidemiol & Biostat Serv, Genoa, Italy Univ Genoa, Ist Giannina Gaslini, IRCCS, Sci Directory, Genoa, Italy Univ Genoa, PRINTO, IRCCS, Ist Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy Univ Genoa, Dept Neurosci Rehabil Ophthalmol Genet & Maternal, Genoa, Italy Wilhelmina Childrens Hosp, Dept Pediat Immunol & Rheumatol, Utrecht, Netherlands Sanjay Gandhi Postgrad Inst Med Sci, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India Univ Hosp 12 Octubre, Dept Pediat Rheumatol, Madrid, Spain Alfaisal Univ, Dept Pediat Rheumatol, King Faisal Specialist Hosp, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Alfaisal Univ, Res Ctr, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Western Univ Childrens Hosp, Hlth Sci Ctr, London, ON, Canada Oslo Univ Hosp, Dept Rheumatol, Oslo, Norway Oslo Univ Hosp, Med Fac, Oslo, Norway Univ Oslo, Oslo, Norway Oslo Univ Hosp, Norwegian Natl Advisory Unit Rheumat Dis Children, Oslo, Norway Univ Hosp Munster, Dept Pediat Rheumatol & Immunol, Munster, Germany Hosp Sor Maria Ludovica, Rheumatol Serv, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina Bucharest Emergency Hosp, Cluj Napoca, Romania Childrens Emergency Hosp, Cluj Napoca, Romania Cincinnati Childrens Hosp Med Ctr, Div Rheumatol, Cincinnati, OH 45229 USA Alberta Childrens Prov Gen Hosp, Div Pediat Rheumatol, Dept Pediat, Calgary, AB, Canada Sofiamed, Pediat Dept, Sofia, Bulgaria Rigshosp, Juliane Marie Ctr, Paediat Rheumatol Unit, Copenhagen, Denmark Natl Inst Rheumatism & Physiotherapy, Clin Immunol Adult & Paediat Rheumatol Dept, Budapest, Hungary Univ Latvia, Pediat Dept, Riga, Latvia Univ Latvia, Univ Childrens Hosp, Riga, Latvia Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu Fac Med, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Shariati Hosp, Rheumatol Res Ctr, Dept Pediat & Rheumatol, Tehran, Iran Inst Rheumatol Belgrade, Div Pediat Rheumatol, Belgrade, Serbia Thessaloniki Univ, Dept Pediat 1, Hippokrat Gen Hosp, Sch Med, Thessaloniki, Greece Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu Fac Med, Botucatu, SP, Brazil

Background Many biological and inflammatory markers have been proposed as having a prognostic value at diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), but very few have been validated in paediatric patients. We explored the significance of these markers in a large population of 769 affected children. Patients and methods By using the database of patients enrolled in A.I.E.O.P. (Associazione Italiana di Emato-Oncologia Pediatrica) trial LH2004 for paediatric HL, we identified 769 consecutive patients treated with curative intent from 1st June 2004 to 1st April 2014 with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine), or hybrid COPP/ABV (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, procarbazine, doxorubicin, bleomycin and vinblastine) regimens. Results On multivariate analysis with categorical forms, the 5-year freedom from progression survival was significantly lower in patients with stage IV or elevated value of platelets, eosinophils and ferritin at diagnosis. Furthermore, stage IV and eosinophils seem to maintain their predictive value independently of interim (after IV cycles of chemotherapy) positron emission tomography. Conclusion Using the combination of four simple markers such as stage IV and elevated levels of platelets, ferritin and eosinophils, it is possible to classify the patients into subgroups with very different outcomes.

Objective To develop and test a hybrid measure of muscle strength for juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), which is based on the combination of the Manual Muscle Testing 8 (MMT8) and the Childhood Myositis Assessment Scale (CMAS), but is more comprehensive than the former and more feasible than the latter. Methods The hybrid MMT/CMAS (hMC) is composed of all 8 items of the MMT8 and 3 items of the CMAS: 1) time of head lift; 2) assessment of abdominal muscles; 3) floor rise. The score ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 indicating normal muscle strength. Validation procedures were conducted using three large multinational patient samples including a total of 810 JDM patients. Results The hMC revealed face and content validity, good construct validity, excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99) and internal consistency (Chronbach's alpha = 0.94), strong responsiveness to clinical change over time (standardized response mean = 0.8 among patients judged as improved by the caring physician), and satisfactory capacity to discriminate patients judged as being in the states of inactive disease or low, moderate, or high disease activity by the physician (p < 0.001) or patients whose parents were satisfied or not satisfied with illness course (p < 0.001). Conclusion The hMC was found to possess good measurement properties in a large population of patients with a wide range of disease activity and severity. The new tool, which is primarily intended for use in routine clinical care, should be further tested in other populations of patients evaluated prospectively. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Italian language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the 3 Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha, interscale correlations, test–retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A total of 1296 JIA patients (7.2% systemic, 59.5% oligoarticular, 21.4% RF negative polyarthritis, 11.9% other categories) and 100 healthy children, were enrolled in 18 centres. The JAMAR components discriminated well healthy subjects from JIA patients except for the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Psychosocial Health (PsH) subscales. All JAMAR components revealed good psychometric performances. In conclusion, the Italian version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and clinical research.

Background Behçet’s disease is a rare multi-systemic inflammatory disease with unknown etiology which involves principally oral and genital mucosa, skin and eyes. Average age at onset of the disease is about 25-30 years, but it may be diagnosed before the age of 16. It is not very rare in Italy, even though there are limited data concerning epidemiology. Aim of this study is to describe the baseline data of an Italian cohort of patients with as having BD or probable BD. Methods We described the baseline data of the first national epidemiological study on children coming from 16 Italian Pediatric Rheumatologic Centers diagnosed by the treating physicians as having Behçet’s Disease. Data on demographic characteristics, clinical features and therapy were collected. We then compared our findings to those of international pediatric cohort studies and also retrospectively evaluated the ability to diagnose BD using ISG, ICBD and, for the first time, the new PEDBD criteria. Results The study included 110 patients (62 M, 48F). Average age at onset was 8.34±4.11 years. The frequencies of signs/symptoms were: recurrent oral aphtosis 94.5%, genital ulcers 33.6%, ocular 43.6%, gastrointestinal 42.7%, musculoskeletal 42.7%, neurological 30.9% and vascular involvement 10%. Thirty-two patients (29.1%) fulfilled ISG, 78 (70.9%) ICBD, 50 (45.5%) PEDBD criteria and 31 (28%) didn’t fulfill any of them. The most frequently used treatments were colchicine and corticosteroids followed by immunosuppressants. Four patients received biologic therapy (anti TNF-α and anti-IL-1) to treat severe organ involvement. Conclusions Recurrent oral aphtosis was the most frequent clinical manifestation, followed by ocular involvement. Gastrointestinal lesions were more frequent in Italy than in non-European countries as opposed to genital ulcers. Skin, ocular and vascular manifestations had a higher frequency in males and genital ulcers in females. Constitutional symptoms were present in 44.5% and recurrent fever in one third of our population.

Summary Background Little evidence-based information is available to guide the treatment of oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We aimed to investigate whether oral methotrexate increases the efficacy of intra-articular corticosteroid therapy. Methods We did this prospective, open-label, randomised trial at ten hospitals in Italy. Using a concealed computer-generated list, children younger than 18 years with oligoarticular-onset disease were randomly assigned (1:1) to intra-articular corticosteroids alone or in combination with oral methotrexate (15 mg/m 2 ; maximum 20 mg). Corticosteroids used were triamcinolone hexacetonide (shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, and tibiotalar joints) or methylprednisolone acetate (ie, subtalar and tarsal joints). We did not mask patients or investigators to treatment assignments. Our primary outcome was the proportion of patients in the intention-to-treat population who had remission of arthritis in all injected joints at 12 months. This trial is registered with European Union Clinical Trials Register, EudraCT number 2008-006741-70. Findings Between July 7, 2009, and March 31, 2013, we screened 226 participants and randomly assigned 102 to intra-articular corticosteroids alone and 105 to intra-articular corticosteroids plus methotrexate. 33 (32%) patients assigned to intra-articular corticosteroids alone and 39 (37%) assigned to intra-articular corticosteroids and methotrexate therapy had remission of arthritis in all injected joints (p=0·48). Adverse events were recorded for 20 (17%) patients who received methotrexate, which led to permanent treatment discontinuation in two patients (one due to increased liver transaminases and one due to gastrointestinal discomfort). No patient had a serious adverse event. Interpretation Concomitant administration of methotrexate did not augment the effectiveness of intra-articular corticosteroid therapy. Future studies are needed to define the optimal therapeutic strategies for oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Funding Italian Agency of Drug Evaluation.

Background: Data from routine clinical practice are needed to further define the efficacy and safety of biologic medications in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this analysis was to investigate the disease status, reasons for discontinuation and adverse events in Italian JIA patients treated with etanercept (ETN). Methods: In 2013, all centers of the Italian Pediatric Rheumatology Study Group were asked to make a census of patients given ETN after January 2000. Patients were classified in three groups: group 1 = patients still taking ETN; group 2 = patients discontinued from ETN for any reasons; group 3 = patients lost to follow-up while receiving ETN. All three groups received a retrospective assessment; patients in group 1 also underwent a cross-sectional assessment. Results: 1038 patients were enrolled by 23 centers: 422 (40.7%) were in group 1, 462 (44.5%) in group 2, and 154 (14.8%) in group 3. Median duration of ETN therapy was 2.5 years. At cross-sectional assessment, 41.8% to 48.6% of patients in group 1 met formal criteria for inactive disease, whereas 52.4% of patients in group 2 and 55.8% of patients in group 3 were judged in clinical remission by their caring physician at last visit. A relatively greater proportion of patients with systemic arthritis were discontinued or lost to follow-up. Parent evaluations at cross-sectional visit in group 1 showed that 52.4% of patients had normal physical function, very few had impairment in quality of life, 51.2% had no pain, 76% had no morning stiffness, and 82.7% of parents were satisfied with their child's illness outcome. Clinically significant adverse events were reported for 27.8% of patients and ETN was discontinued for side effects in 9.5%. The most common adverse events were new onset or recurrent uveitis (10.2%), infections (6.6%), injection site reactions (4.4%), and neuropsychiatric (3.1%), gastrointestinal (2.4%), and hematological disorders (2.1%). Ten patients developed an inflammatory bowel disease and 2 had a malignancy. One patient died of a fulminant streptococcal sepsis. Conclusions: Around half of the patients achieved complete disease quiescence under treatment with ETN. The medication was overall well tolerated, as only one quarter of patients experienced clinically significant adverse events and less than 10% had treatment discontinued for toxicity.

Objective.To develop and test a new multidimensional questionnaire for assessment of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in standard clinical care.Methods.The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) includes 15 parent or patient-centered measures or items that assess well-being, pain, functional status, health-related quality of life, morning stiffness, disease activity, disease status and course, joint disease, extraarticular symptoms, side effects of medications, therapeutic compliance, and satisfaction with illness outcome. The JAMAR is proposed for use as both a proxy-report and a patient self-report, with the suggested age range of 7–18 years for use as a self-report. From March 2007 to September 2009, the questionnaire was completed by the parents of 618 children with JIA in 1814 visits and by 332 children in 749 visits.Results.The JAMAR was found to be feasible and to possess face and content validity. All parents and children reported that the questionnaire was simple and easy to understand. Completion and scoring appeared to be quick, requiring < 15 minutes. There were very few missing data. Parents’ proxy-reported and children’s self-reported data were remarkably concordant. The JAMAR provided thorough information for the study patients about recent medical history and current health status. It performed similarly across different children’s ages and characterized the level of disease activity and disability well.Conclusion.The development of the JAMAR introduces a new approach in pediatric rheumatology practice. This new questionnaire may help enhance the quality of care of children with JIA.

In contrast with the numerous controlled trials conducted in polyarticular or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), little evidence-based information is available for oligoarticular JIA. As a result, the management of children with this subtype, which is the most prevalent in Western countries, is largely empiric. Intra-articular corticosteroid (IAC) injection is the therapy of first choice for oligoarthritis in many pediatric rheumatology centers. However, although IAC injections are usually highly efficacious, relapses of synovitis are common and sometimes occur only a few months after the procedure. It is still unclear whether concomitant administration of methotrexate (MTX) may increase and prolong the effectiveness of IAC injections.

The advent of biologic medications has considerably increased the potential for treatment benefit in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), with clinical remission being now achievable in a substantial proportion of patients.

In 1985, Stein et al. (Blood 66:848–858) described a large cell lymphoma consisting of activated lymphoid elements, expressing the Reed-Sternberg cell-associated antigen Ki-1 (CD30); this tumor has recently been included in the updated Kiel classification and has been termed anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). This report concerns 13 patients with previously untreated ALCL who were admitted to the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Department of Bologna University between January 1983 and December 1989. Ten cases were diagnosed as common type ALCL, 1 as Hodgkin's-related ALCL and the remaining 2 as histiocyte-rich ALCL/lymphohistiocytic T-cell lymphoma. T-cell markers were present in 85% of the cases, and B pheno-type in the remaining 15%. About one-half of the patients presented systemic symptoms; all but one showed more than one involved site, mostly an association of nodal and extranodal sites. All patients (1 in stage 1,7 in stage II, and 5 in stage III) were treated with a modified version of the LSA2-L2 protocol. Survival and event-free survival at 4 years were 100% and 62.9%, respectively. Two out of 3 relapsed patients presented a recurrence of disease when they were off-therapy 24 and 36 months after first complete remission. Good response to salvage chemotherapy of all the relapsed patients and the long duration of the second complete remission were a distinctive characteristic of this neoplasm when compared to other histological subtypes. The clinical presentation, the tendency to develop late relapses and to achieve and maintain second remission easily suggest that ALCL is a high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, from the histological point of view, but is similar to Hodgkin's disease from the clinical point of view. This would confirm the hypothesis that Hodgkin's disease and ALCL represent a continuous spectrum of the same disease. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Background The advent of biologic medications has considerably increased the potential for treatment benefit in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), with clinical remission being now achievable in a substantial proportion of patients. Objectives To evaluate the outcome of etanercept (ETN) therapy in Italian children with JIA. Methods This is a multicenter, observational study that includes all children with JIA who were given ETN at Italian pediatric rheumatology centers after January 2000. Patients were classified in 2 groups: patients who were no longer taking ETN at study start (Group 1); patients who were still receiving ETN at study start (Group 2). Patients in Group 1 underwent only retrospective assessments, whereas patients in Group 2 underwent both retrospective and cross-sectional assessments. The primary outcome of the study were reasons for ETN discontinuation in patients in Group 1, and achievement of the states of inactive disease (ID), minimal disease activity (MDA) and parent- and child-acceptable symptom state (PASS, CASS) in patients in Group 2. The above states were assessed through both formal definitions and JADAS cutoffs. The secondary outcome was the evaluation of frequency and characteristics of ETN-related side effects. Results So far, the data of 1019 patients (629 in Group 1 and 390 in Group 2) have been collected. Among the 629 patients in Group 1, reasons for ETN discontinuation evaluated in 460 patients included disease remission (48.5%), lack of efficacy (26.1%), and side effects (14.8%). The results of assessment of disease state through formal definitions in 371 children of the 390 children in Group 2 who had already undergone the cross-sectional evaluation were the following: ID 39.7%, MDA 63.0%, PASS 82.4%, CASS 75.8%. The percentages of patients who reached the same disease states assessed through JADAS cutoffs were: ID 45.9%, MDA 61.6%, PASS 70.0%, CASS 66.2%. Serious adverse events were seen in 17 patients and included inflammatory bowel disease (8 pts), tuberculosis (1 pt), CMV hepatitis (1 pt), recurrent pneumoniae (1 pt), varicella complicated by bronchopneumonia (1 pt), acute pancreatitis (1pt), bacterial osteomyelitis (1 pt), bladder carcinoma (1pt), thyroid carcinoma (1 pt); 1 patient died of sepsis. Conclusions A substantial proportion of children currently receiving ETN were in the states of ID or MDA, or were satisfied with treatment outcome. Half of the patients who had been discontinued from ETN before study start had the medication stopped because of disease remission. Serious adverse events were uncommon. Disclosure of Interest None declared

Background Assessment of muscle strength is a fundamental component of the clinical evaluation of children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). This assessment is traditionally made using the 8-muscle MMT and the CMAS. However, the MMT does not cover all muscles or muscle groups affected in JDM, particularly abdominal muscles. Although the CMAS is more comprehensive than the MMT, it is lengthy and, therefore, may not be feasible in a busy clinical setting or when a physical therapist is not available. We have recently developed a new measure of muscle strength in JDM, named Hybrid MMT/CMAS (hMC), which is more comprehensive than the MMT and more feasible than the CMAS. This tool has previously demonstrated good construct validity. Objectives To further validate the hMC by assessing its discriminant validity. Methods The hMC is composed of all 8 items of MMT and of 3 items of the CMAS: 1) head lift; 2) sits-ups; 3) floor rise. The total score of the hMC ranges from 0 (worst) to 100 (normal). Validation analyses were performed in 167 patients included in a multinational study. Discriminant validity of the hMC was assessed by comparing its score between: 1) patients rated by the physician as being in remission or in high, moderate, or low disease activity; 2) patients rated in remission, continued activity, or flare by physician and parent; 3) parents satisfied or not satisfied with their child9s disease outcome. The change in hMC score between 2 consecutive visits (median 3 months) was compared among patients defined as improved, stable, or worsened by physician and parent. Comparisons of quantitative variables among groups were made by nonparametric analysis of variance (Kruskal-Wallis test) and Mann-Whitney U Test. Results The hMC demonstrated strong ability to discriminate between patients in high, moderate, low disease activity or remission according to the physician, between patients defined in remission, continued active disease and flare by the parent (p Conclusions The hMC showed strong discriminant ability in a large multinational patient sample and is, thus, a valid tool for the assessment muscles disease activity in JDM patients in standard clinical care, observational studies, and clinical trials. Disclosure of Interest None declared

Background Evaluation of the level of disease activity is a fundamental component of the clinical assessment of children with JDM. The global tools that are currently available for the assessment of the overall disease activity in JDM are centered on physician9s evaluation, neglecting parent9s or child9s perception. Furthermore, these instruments are lengthy and complex. There remains the need for a concise and easily administered tool that provides an absolute measure of disease activity for use in future trials in JDM Objectives To develop and test a new composite disease activity score for JDM, named the Juvenile Dermatomyositis Activity Index (JDMAI). Methods The JDMAI includes 4 measures: 1) physician global assessment of disease activity on a 0-10 VAS, 2) parent/patient global assessment of well-being on a 0-10 VAS, 3) muscle strength assessment, and 4) cutaneous disease activity. Validation analyses were conducted on 140 patients included in a multinational study and were based on evaluation of construct validity, responsiveness to change, and discriminant validity. Four versions of the JDMAI were tested, which differed items 3) and 4). Three versions included the hybrid MMT/CMAS (hMC), reversed and divided by 10, as measure of muscle strength (range 0-10), and the cutaneous domain of the DAS (range 0-9) (JDMAI-1), a cutaneous VAS (range 0-10) (JDMAI-2), or the skin involvement type and distribution items of the DAS (range 0-7) (JDMAI-3) as measures of skin activity. A fourth version of the score (JDMAI-4) included the 3 CMAS items of the hMC (head lift; sits up, floor rise) (range 0-20) for muscle strength and the skin involvement and distribution items of the DAS for skin activity. Results Construct validity: Spearman9s correlations of all JDMAI versions were: strong (r >0.7) with total DAS (0.80 - 0.90), parents9 disease activity VAS (0.73 to 0.80), and CHAQ (0.72 to 0.80); moderate (r 0.4-0.7) with CMAS (-0.63 to -0.65, -0.80 for JDMAI-4), pain VAS (0.55 to 0.60), fatigue VAS (0.62 to 0.70); poor (r Conclusions All JDMAI versions showed good construct validity and responsiveness to change, and excellent discriminant validity. We have shown that the JDMAI is a valid instrument for the assessment of disease activity in JDM and is, therefore, potentially applicable in standard clinical care, observational studies, and clinical trials. Disclosure of Interest None declared