What You Need To Know
Division Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, and renowned clinician and researcher of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) has authored a new review article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the leading medical journal, along with co-authors Christy Sandborg, M.D. (Stanford University), and Grant Schulert, M.D. (University of Cincinnati).
The comprehensive review focuses on advances in knowledge of the clinical features, biology, genetics and treatment of JIA. The article details the remarkable transformation in the treatment and understanding of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), a group of chronic inflammatory diseases that were once a source of lifelong disability for many children. The review summarizes how scientific research and medical advances over the past two decades have profoundly improved the lives of young patients, while also outlining the challenges that remain.
Before the 2000s, a JIA diagnosis was often devastating, with 25% to 40% of children developing moderate-to-severe disease, resulting in permanent joint destruction, deformities, and significant disability. Today, patients with JIA have excellent outcomes. These changes have been driven by the introduction of new biologic and other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which target specific inflammatory pathways driving the disease.
“For decades, a JIA diagnosis often cast a long shadow over a child's future,” said Dr. Kimura. “Today, thanks to many effective targeted therapies, we can control the inflammation and are often able to prevent the joint damage and disability we used to see, allowing most children to live full, active lives. This review attempts to capture the incredible progress we are witnessing, while also charting the course for the work that still needs to be done.”
This review serves as an important resource, consolidating the latest knowledge and research about JIA while underscoring a message of hope: with modern diagnostics and targeted therapies, the prognosis for children diagnosed with JIA is brighter than ever before, adds Dr. Kimura.
About Dr. Kimura
Dr. Yukiko Kimura was the first pediatric rheumatologist in the state of New Jersey, and founded the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at Hackensack University Medical Center. The division has become a widely recognized academic pediatric rheumatology center and is currently the largest in the New York metropolitan area. The center recently launched the first pediatric rheumatology fellowship training program in New Jersey. She is a founding member and leader of the Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA), a pediatric rheumatology research network that spans more than 70 sites across North America. She led multiple research studies as well as the development of the CARRA Registry (which has now enrolled more than 15,000 patients).