title: Complete control of disease activity and remission induced by treatment with etanercept in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify contributing factors associated with inactive disease (ID) and clinical remission for patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) treated with etanercept.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of an ongoing, long-term, multicentre, prospective, open-label observational study were analysed. Results. A total of 4898 follow-up forms from 787 JIA patients treated with etanercept were evaluated. Sixty-four per cent of the patients were female, 75% concomitantly received MTX and 45.9% received corticosteroids. Until the last observation, 47.6% of patients reached the criteria for ID and 26.6% achieved the remission on medication criteria. For both, ID and remission on medication, a significant influence of shorter disease duration (P<0.01 and P<0.001), a weekly dosage of at least 0.8 mg/kg (P=0.02), lower active joint counts (P=0.001) and lower childhood HAQ score (P<0.001 and P=0.004) at baseline was found. The odds ratio (OR) for a girl's chance to reach ID was 0.73 (P=0.049) and for remission on medication was 0.68 (P=0.04) compared with boys. The concomitant administration of MTX raised the relative chance, especially in patients with seronegative polyarthritis (OR 2.0; P=0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Upon treatment with etanercept, many JIA patients reached ID and remission on medication, although they had suffered from long-standing, refractory disease. Earlier initiation of treatment, less severe disease, use of at least the recommended weekly dosage of etanercept, and concomitant treatment with MTX seemed to independently increase the chance for reaching remission. These data should be confirmed by controlled prospective studies.
authors.affiliation: Deutsches Kinderrheumazentrum, Department of Paediatrics, Asklepios Klinik Sankt Augustin, Arnold Janssen Str. 29, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Papsdorf
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Horneff
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D000068800:Etanercept; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012074:Remission Induction; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000068800:Etanercept; D008727:Methotrexate