Treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Abstract

Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) is an inflammatory disease with hallmarks of severe systemic inflammation, which can be accompanied by arthritis. Contemporary scientific insights set this paediatric disorder on a continuum with its counterpart, adult-onset Still disease (AOSD). Patients with sJIA are prone to complications, including life-threatening hyperinflammation (macrophage activation syndrome (sJIA-MAS)) and sJIA-associated lung disease (sJIA-LD). Meanwhile, the treatment arsenal in sJIA has expanded markedly. State-of-the-art therapeutic approaches include biologic agents thattarget the IL-1 and IL-6 pathways. Beyond these, a range of novel agents are on the horizon, some of them already being used on a compassionate use basis, including JAK inhibitors and biologic agents thattarget IL-18, IFNγ, or IL-1β and IL-18 simultaneously. However, sJIA, sJIA-MAS and sJIA-LD still pose challenging conundrums to rheumatologists treatingpaediatric and adult patients worldwide. Although national and international consensus treatment plans exist for the treatment of 'classic' sJIA, the treatment approaches for early sJIA without arthritis, and forrefractory or complicated sJIA, are not well defined. Therefore, in this Review we outline current approaches for the treatment of sJIA and provide an outlook on knowledge gaps.