Objective. To investigate the long-term outcome and prognostic factors of juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) through a multinational, multicenter study. Methods. Patients consisted of inception cohorts seen between 1980 and 2004 in 27 centers in Europe and Latin America.Predictor variables were sex, continent, ethnicity, onset year, onset age, onset type, onset manifestations, course type, disease duration, and active disease duration. Outcomes were muscle strength/endurance, continued disease activity, cumulative damage, muscle damage, cutaneous damage, calcinosis, lipodystrophy, physical function, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Results. A total of 490 patients with a mean disease duration of 7.7 years were included. At the cross-sectional visit, 41.2-52.8% of patients, depending on the instrument used, had reduced muscle strength/endurance, but less than 10% had severe impairment. Persistently active disease was recorded in 41.2-60.5% of the patients, depending on the activity measure used. Sixty-nine percent of the patients had cumulative damage. The frequency of calcinosis and lipodystrophy was 23.6% and 9.7%, respectively. A total of 40.7% of the patients had decreased functional ability, but only 6.5% had major impairment. Only a small fraction had decreased HRQOL. A chronic course, either polycyclic or continuous, consistently predicted a poorer outcome. Mortality rate was 3.1%. Conclusion. This study confirms the marked improvement in functional outcome of juvenile DM when compared with earlier literature. However, many patients had continued disease activity and cumulative damage at followup. A chronic course was the strongest predictor of poor prognosis. These findings highlight the need for treatment strategies that enable a better control of disease activity over time and the reduction of nonreversible damage.

Takayasu arteritis is an idiopathic granulomatous vasculitis of the aorta and its main branches and it constitutes one of the more common vasculitides in children. Inflammation and intimal proliferation lead to wall thickening, stenotic or occlusive lesions, and thrombosis, while destruction of the elastica and muscularis layers originates aneurysms and dissection. Carotid artery tenderness, claudication, ocular disturbances, central nervous system abnormalities, and weakening of pulses are the most frequent clinical features. The diagnosis is usually confirmed by the observation of large vessel wall abnormalities: stenosis, aneurysms, occlusion, and evidence of increased collateral circulation in angiography, MRA or CTA imaging. The purpose of this revision is to address the current knowledge on pathogenesis, investigations, classification, outcome measures and management, and to emphasize the need for timely diagnosis, effective therapeutic intervention, and close monitoring of this severe condition.

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Background: Juvenile systemic sclerosis (JSS) is a multisystem connective tissue disease characterized by skin fibrosis and internal organ involvement. It has a low prevalence, even in a tertiary facility setting. The purpose of the present study is to describe and analyze the clinical and laboratory characteristics of a group of children with JSS followed in a single center.

Twenty-four percent of patients with systemic JIA experienced remission with anti-TNF therapy, but only 13% experienced sustained benefit.

Patients with EO exhibited a more aggressive and destructive disease course than patients with LO SJIA.

To analyse the effectiveness and safety of adalimumab in a group of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who had failed treatment with etanercept and/or infliximab in a single paediatric rheumatology clinic. Patients with JIA with active polyarthritis refractory to metotrexate (MTX) (> or =20 mg/m2/week) for at least 3 months and to etanercept (up to 1 mg/kg twice weekly) and/or infliximab (up to 10 mg/kg every 4 weeks) for at least 6 months were included. All patients received adalimumab 24 mg/m2/week concomitantly with MTX 7.5-10 mg/week. Evaluation of efficacy included improvement as defined by the ACR paediatric 30 criteria, 50% and 70% improvement and remission. Six patients were included. Three patients met improvement criteria; 50% and 70% improvement occurred in two children. Improvement was sustained for 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively. Remission occurred in one patient. Adalimumab was discontinued due to lack of efficacy in three patients. No side effects were observed. Adalimumab appears to be effective and safe in patients with JIA refractory to other anti-TNF agents. Further controlled studies are needed in order to assess efficacy of adalimumab in children with refractory JIA.

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.