EXPERIENCE WITH ABATACEPT IN TREATMENT OF JUVENILE IDIOPATHIC ARTHRITIS
Persistent interest to Abatacept (ABA) keeps growing due to continuous inflow of consistent efficacy and safety data from successful clinical trials. The objective of our retrospective trial was to evaluate ABA efficacy and safety in treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in biologic-naive patients. 20 patients aged 3—17 y.o. were included into the study. All included cases had a long duration of the disease, high values of clinical and laboratory indicators of JIA activity corresponding to moderate and severe course of arthritis. 70% achieved improvement in ACR 30 after average 8 months treatment with ABA (duration range 3—20 mo). Best clinical responses were observed in patients with systemic JIA subtype (but without obvious clinical manifestations) in all 3 cases out of 3 included, and polyarticular subtype — in 9 patients out of 11. 6 patients (30,0%) discontinued treatment. Main reasons for discontinuing treatment were absence or lack of efficacy — in 4 cases, poor adherence — in 1 case, and adverse reactions — in 1 case. Hopefully these data will help practicing physicians with adequate choice of treatment.