Long-Term Safety of Anti-Interleukin-1 Medications in Children with Rheumatic Diseases: a Systematic Review.

Background: Anti-interleukin-1 (IL-1) biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs are the mainstay for several childhood rheumatic and autoinflammatory diseases. Long-term medication safety is a key consideration for chronic disease management.

Aim: The objective was to synthesise evidence on the long-term safety of anti-IL-1 medications in children and young people with rheumatic diseases, including autoinflammatory diseases.

The Role of Early Echocardiography in Low-Risk Patients With Kawasaki Disease.

Aim: Anecdotally, in some centres in Australia and New Zealand, there is difficulty in obtaining early echocardiograms in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) considered at low risk of coronary artery (CA) involvement, justified by the argument that the risk of coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) is low and that results will not change management. We sought to determine how often in practice the results of early echocardiography alter management in patients with KD, particularly in those at low risk of medium-giant aneurysms.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients with KD at a large paediatric tertiary referral centre was performed.

Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug treatment cycles and rates of flare in juvenile idiopathic arthritis-a tale of Sisyphean endeavour?

Objectives: Withdrawal of Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) to determine need for ongoing medication is common in JIA management. Little is known about how often patients undergo trials of medication discontinuation or the outcomes of successive trials.This study examined DMARD treatment cycles in a JIA cohort to determine how frequently medication withdrawal trials occur over follow-up and if relapse rates change over consecutive cycles.