The German etanercept registry for treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis

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Abstract
Objective: To describe a registry set up to monitor children treated with etanercept in Germany and Austria. Methods: Giannini’s criteria, duration of morning stiffness, number of swollen, tender and contracted joints, adverse events, and reasons for discontinuation were assessed. Results: 322 patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and 12 additional patients with non-JIA rheumatic diagnoses were included. Therapeutic efficacy was observed from one month after treatment was started. The number of patients with significant improvement and the degree of improvement increased during the first year. The mean (SD) number of tender and swollen joints decreased from 9 (9) and 8.4 (9) to 3.0 (6.5) and 4.5 (7) after one month, and to 2.2 (5.5) and 3.3 (5.5) after three months; morning stiffness decreased from 45 (65) minutes to 12 (30) and 7 (19) after one and three months (pConclusion: Etanercept treatment was safe and led to a significant improvement in most JIA patients resistant to conventional treatment.