Abstract
Little is known about the safety and efficacy of etanercept in children below the age of 4 years. Twenty-five patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) below the age of 4 years, who received etanercept, were documented in the German JIA Etanercept Registry. Patients with the nonsystemic JIA disease-subtype responded more frequently to treatment with etanercept than systemic onset patients. At last observation, two (20%) of the nonsystemic patients did not reach a PedACR 30 response, while six (40%) of the systemic onset patients did not respond to the therapy. Complete resolution of symptoms was observed in two (20%) nonsystemic and in five (33%) systemic onset patients with JIA. Tolerability was good with only two infections occurring in the total patients group. Patients with JIA below the age of 4 years, with a methotrexate-resistant disease course, would also benefit from treatment with etanercept, showing a good tolerability. The restriction to children older than 4 years appears to be artificial without any good rationale.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the following investigators who participated in the trial: A. Urban, Fürth, R.Keitzer, and J. Roth, Berlin; T. Hospach, Stuttgart, H. Girschick, Würzburg, M. Borte, Leipzig; H. Michels, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, I. Földvari, Hamburg, H.I. Huppertz, and N. Onken, Bremen; B. Rogalski, Neckargmuend, G. Ganser, Sendenhorst; all from Germany.
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Tzaribachev, N., Kuemmerle-Deschner, J., Eichner, M. et al. Safety and efficacy of etanercept in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis below the age of 4 years. Rheumatol Int 28, 1031–1034 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-008-0563-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-008-0563-2