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THE CLINICAL AND PARACLINICAL EFFICACY OF TOCILIZUMAB IN JUVENILE IDIOPATHIC ARTHRITIS
Authors: Ninel REVENCO, Angela CRACEA, Lucia MAZUR-NICORICI, Silvia FOCA, Rodica EREMCIUC, Olga GAIDARJI, Vladimir IACOMI, Livia BOGONOVSCHI
Number of views: 167
Introduction. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a
persistent type of arthritis with no defined cause that
starts before the age of 16 years and lasts for at least
6 weeks.
The objective of the study was to determine the
clinical and laboratory efficacy of tocilizumab treatment
in patients with systemic and polyarticular seropositive
forms of JIA.
Material and methods. The study took place in
the Division of Rheumatology, Public Healthcare
Institution – Mother and Child Institute, Chisinau,
Republic of Moldova. The parents of the patients
signed the written consent to participate in the study.
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of
the institute. The inclusion criteria for enrolling the
patients who underwent the biological treatment were
both the systemic and polyarticular JIA forms (seronegative
or positive) and active sacroiliitis. The exclusion
criteria were the patients with active infections, tuberculosis,
sepsis, malignancies, and immunodeficiency
disorders. This study included 20 children with JIA, in
whom tocilizumab was administered every two weeks.
The number of painful joints, the number of swollen
joints, and the global evaluation of the disease by the doctor (GEDD) and by the patient (GEDP), as well as
via the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire
(CHAQ), were determined. Furthermore, paraclinical
tests, that included complete blood count and
C-reactive protein (CRP), were determined.
Results. Children treated with tocilizumab exhibited
a decreased number of painful and swollen joints,
as well as the GEDD, GEDP, and CHAQ scores.
Moreover, a decrease of the erythrocyte sedimentation
rate (ESR) and CRP was observed.
Conclusions. Children with JIA treated with tocilizumab
showed a considerable clinical improvement and the paraclinical indices revealed a lower active inflammatory response.