Improvement Of The Long-Term Outcome In Greek Adult Patients With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis In The 21st Century

Background During the last decade there is evidence of a rising improvement regarding the long-term outcome of patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Objectives To compare long-term outcome between patients with disease onset before and after 2000. Methods Patients (pts) ≥18 years with an established JIA, a disease onset ≥5 years and no history of u003e6 months care from external rheumatologists, were enrolled in the study. Clinical, laboratory and radiographic examination were performed at the last follow-up visit, 17.2 years post-diagnosis. The outcome variables were: radiographic damage assessed by the total modified Sharp/van der Heijde Score (TmSvdHS), articular and extra-articular damage by Juvenile Arthritis Damage Index (JADI-A and JADI-E) and physical ability by the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI). In the multivariate analysis, possible explanatory variables were characteristics present at onset and active disease duration within 5 years of onset. Results A total of 102 (72 F) pts were enrolled. The age at disease onset (mean ± SD) was 7.7±4 yrs, the interval from onset to last visit 17.2±6.7 yrs and the pts9 current age 25±5.9 yrs. 28 patients were diagnosed after 2000 (Group 1) and 74 patients before 2000 (Group 2). The 2 Groups didn9t differ in demographic and clinical characteristics, as gender, type of disease onset and ACPA positivity. At the last follow-up visit, Group 1 had better TmSvdHS, better JADI-A and better JADI-E score as compared to Group 2 (p Conclusions Pts diagnosed after 2000, had a better long term outcome as compared to those before 2000. Despite the difference in disease duration, active disease duration within 5 years of onset proved to be a critical prognostic factor, probably reflecting the availability of biologics nowadays and the treat-to-target strategies. References Minden K. Adult outcomes of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Horm Res 2009; 72:20-25. Disclosure of Interest None declared