Opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: analysis by the Pharmachild Safety Adjudication Committee

Background To derive a list of opportunistic infections (OI) through the analysis of the juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients in the Pharmachild registry by an independent Safety Adjudication Committee (SAC). Methods The SAC (3 pediatric rheumatologists and 2 pediatric infectious disease specialists) elaborated and approved by consensus a provisional list of OI for use in JIA. Through a 5 step-procedure, all the severe and serious infections, classified as per MedDRA dictionary and retrieved in the Pharmachild registry, were evaluated by the SAC by answering six questions and adjudicated with the agreement of 3/5 specialists. A final evidence-based list of OI resulted by matching the adjudicated infections with the provisional list of OI. Results A total of 772 infectious events in 572 eligible patients, of which 335 serious/severe/very severe non-OI and 437 OI (any intensity/severity), according to the provisional list, were retrieved. Six hundred eighty-two of 772 (88.3%) were adjudicated as infections, of them 603/682 (88.4%) as common and 119/682 (17.4%) as OI by the SAC. Matching these 119 opportunistic events with the provisional list, 106 were confirmed by the SAC as OI, and among them infections by herpes viruses were the most frequent (68%), followed by tuberculosis (27.4%). The remaining events were divided in the groups of non-OI and possible/patient and/or pathogen-related OI. Conclusions We found a significant number of OI in JIA patients on immunosuppressive therapy. The proposed list of OI, created by consensus and validated in the Pharmachild cohort, could facilitate comparison among future pharmacovigilance studies

The European network for care of children with paediatric rheumatic diseases: care across borders

OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the paediatric rheumatology (PR) services in Europe, describe current delivery of care and training, set standards for care, identify unmet needs and inform future specialist service provision. METHODS: An online survey was developed and presented to national coordinating centres of the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO) (country survey) and to individual PR centres (centre and disease surveys) as a part of the European Union (EU) Single Hub and Access point for paediatric Rheumatology in Europe project. The survey contained components covering the organization of PR care, composition of teams, education, health care and research facilities and assessment of needs. RESULTS: Response rates were 29/35 (83%) for country surveys and 164/288 (57%) for centre surveys. Across the EU, approximately one paediatric rheumatologist is available per million population. In all EU member states there is good access to specialist care and medications, although biologic drug availability is worse in Eastern European countries. PR education is widely available for physicians but is insufficient for allied health professionals. The ability to participate in clinical trials is generally high. Important gaps were identified, including lack of standardized clinical guidelines/recommendations and insufficient adolescent transition management planning. CONCLUSION: This study provides a comprehensive description of current specialist PR service provision across Europe and did not reveal any major differences between EU member states. Rarity, chronicity and complexity of diseases are major challenges to PR care. Future work should facilitate the development, dissemination and implementation of standards of care, treatment and service recommendations to further improve patient-centred health care across Europe

Dissecting the heterogeneity of macrophage activation syndrome complicating systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Objective. To seek insights into the heterogeneity of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) complicating systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) through the analysis of a large patient sample collected in a multinational survey. Methods. International pediatric rheumatologists and hemato-oncologists entered their patient data, collected retrospectively, in a Web-based database. The demographic, clinical, laboratory, histopathologic, therapeutic, and outcome data were analyzed in relation to (1) geographic location of caring hospital, (2) subspecialty of attending physician, (3) demonstration of hemophagocytosis, and (4) severity of clinical course. Results. A total of 362 patients were included by 95 investigators from 33 countries. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic features were comparable among patients seen in diverse geographic areas or by different pediatric specialists. Patients seen in North America were given biologics more frequently. Patients entered by pediatric hemato-oncologists were treated more commonly with biologics and etoposide, whereas patients seen by pediatric rheumatologists more frequently received cyclosporine. Patients with demonstration of hemophagocytosis had shorter duration of sJIA at MAS onset, higher prevalence of hepatosplenomegaly, lower levels of platelets and fibrinogen, and were more frequently administered cyclosporine, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and etoposide. Patients with severe course were older, had longer duration of sJIA at MAS onset, had more full-blown clinical picture, and were more commonly given cyclosporine, IVIG, and etoposide. Conclusion. The clinical spectrum of MAS is comparable across patients seen in different geographic settings or by diverse pediatric subspecialists. There was a disparity in the therapeutic choices among physicians that underscores the need to establish uniform therapeutic protocols

Development and Initial Validation of the Macrophage Activation Syndrome/Primary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Score, a Diagnostic Tool that Differentiates Primary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis from Macrophage Activation Syndrome

Objective To develop and validate a diagnostic score that assists in discriminating primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (pHLH) from macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) related to systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Study design The clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic features of 362 patients with MAS and 258 patients with pHLH were collected in a multinational collaborative study. Eighty percent of the population was assessed to develop the score and the remaining 20% constituted the validation sample. Variables that entered the best fitted model of logistic regression were assigned a score, based on their statistical weight. The MAS/HLH (MH) score was made up with the individual scores of selected variables. The cutoff in the MH score that discriminated pHLH from MAS best was calculated by means of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Score performance was examined in both developmental and validation samples. Results Six variables composed the MH score: age at onset, neutrophil count, fibrinogen, splenomegaly, platelet count, and hemoglobin. The MH score ranged from 0 to 123, and its median value was 97 (1st-3rd quartile 75-123) and 12 (1st-3rd quartile 11-34) in pHLH and MAS, respectively. The probability of a diagnosis of pHLH ranged from 99% for a score of ≥123. A cutoff value of ≥60 revealed the best performance in discriminating pHLH from MAS. Conclusion The MH score is a powerful tool that may aid practitioners to identify patients who are more likely to have pHLH and, thus, could be prioritized for functional and genetic testing

2016 classification criteria for macrophage activation syndrome complicating systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology/Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation collaborative initiative

OBJECTIVE: To develop criteria for the classification of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) in patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS: A multistep process, based on a combination of expert consensus and analysis of real patient data, was conducted. A panel of 28 experts was first asked to classify 428 patient profiles as having or not having MAS, based on clinical and laboratory features at the time of disease onset. The 428 profiles comprised 161 patients with systemic JIA-associated MAS and 267 patients with a condition that could potentially be confused with MAS (active systemic JIA without evidence of MAS, or systemic infection). Next, the ability of candidate criteria to classify individual patients as having MAS or not having MAS was assessed by evaluating the agreement between the classification yielded using the criteria and the consensus classification of the experts. The final criteria were selected in a consensus conference. RESULTS: Experts achieved consensus on the classification of 391 of the 428 patient profiles (91.4%). A total of 982 candidate criteria were tested statistically. The 37 best-performing criteria and 8 criteria obtained from the literature were evaluated at the consensus conference. During the conference, 82% consensus among experts was reached on the final MAS classification criteria. In validation analyses, these criteria had a sensitivity of 0.73 and a specificity of 0.99. Agreement between the classification (MAS or not MAS) obtained using the criteria and the original diagnosis made by the treating physician was high (κ = 0.76). CONCLUSION: We have developed a set of classification criteria for MAS complicating systemic JIA and provided preliminary evidence of its validity. Use of these criteria will potentially improve understanding of MAS in systemic JIA and enhance efforts to discover effective therapies, by ensuring appropriate patient enrollment in studies

American College of Rheumatology Provisional Criteria for Clinically Relevant Improvement in Children and Adolescents With Childhood-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective: To develop a Childhood Lupus Improvement Index (CHILI) as a tool to measure response to therapy in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE), with a focus on clinically relevant improvement (CRI cSLE ). Methods: Pediatric nephrology and rheumatology subspecialists (n = 213) experienced in cSLE management were invited to define CRI cSLE and rate a total of 433 unique patient profiles for the presence/absence of CRI cSLE . Patient profiles included the following cSLE core response variables (CRVs): global assessment of patient well-being (patient-global), physician assessment of cSLE activity (MD-global), disease activity index score (here, we used the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index), urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, and Child Health Questionnaire physical summary score. Percentage and absolute changes in these cSLE-CRVs (baseline versus follow-up) were considered in order to develop candidate algorithms and validate their performance (sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]; range 0\u20131). Results: During an international consensus conference, unanimous agreement on a definition of CRI cSLE was achieved; cSLE experts (n = 13) concurred (100%) that the preferred CHILI algorithm considers absolute changes in the cSLE-CRVs. After transformation to a range of 0\u2013100, a CHILI score of 6554 had outstanding accuracy for identifying CRI cSLE (AUC 0.93, sensitivity 81.1%, and specificity 84.2%). CHILI scores also reflect minor, moderate, and major improvement for values exceeding 15, 68, and 92, respectively (all AUC 650.92, sensitivity 6593.1%, and specificity 6573.4%). Conclusion: The CHILI is a new, seemingly highly accurate index for measuring CRI in cSLE over time. This index is useful to categorize the degree of response to therapy in children and adolescents with cSLE

American College of Rheumatology Provisional Criteria for Clinically Relevant Improvement in Children and Adolescents With Childhood-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective: To develop a Childhood Lupus Improvement Index (CHILI) as a tool to measure response to therapy in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE), with a focus on clinically relevant improvement (CRI cSLE ). Methods: Pediatric nephrology and rheumatology subspecialists (n = 213) experienced in cSLE management were invited to define CRI cSLE and rate a total of 433 unique patient profiles for the presence/absence of CRI cSLE . Patient profiles included the following cSLE core response variables (CRVs): global assessment of patient well-being (patient-global), physician assessment of cSLE activity (MD-global), disease activity index score (here, we used the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index), urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, and Child Health Questionnaire physical summary score. Percentage and absolute changes in these cSLE-CRVs (baseline versus follow-up) were considered in order to develop candidate algorithms and validate their performance (sensitivity, specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]; range 0–1). Results: During an international consensus conference, unanimous agreement on a definition of CRI cSLE was achieved; cSLE experts (n = 13) concurred (100%) that the preferred CHILI algorithm considers absolute changes in the cSLE-CRVs. After transformation to a range of 0–100, a CHILI score of ≥54 had outstanding accuracy for identifying CRI cSLE (AUC 0.93, sensitivity 81.1%, and specificity 84.2%). CHILI scores also reflect minor, moderate, and major improvement for values exceeding 15, 68, and 92, respectively (all AUC ≥0.92, sensitivity ≥93.1%, and specificity ≥73.4%). Conclusion: The CHILI is a new, seemingly highly accurate index for measuring CRI in cSLE over time. This index is useful to categorize the degree of response to therapy in children and adolescents with cSLE

Development and initial validation of the macrophage activation syndrome/primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis score, a diagnostic tool that differentiates primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis from macrophage activation syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a diagnostic score that assists in discriminating primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (pHLH) from macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) related to systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. STUDY DESIGN: The clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic features of 362 patients with MAS and 258 patients with pHLH were collected in a multinational collaborative study. Eighty percent of the population was assessed to develop the score and the remaining 20% constituted the validation sample. Variables that entered the best fitted model of logistic regression were assigned a score, based on their statistical weight. The MAS/HLH (MH) score was made up with the individual scores of selected variables. The cutoff in the MH score that discriminated pHLH from MAS best was calculated by means of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Score performance was examined in both developmental and validation samples. RESULTS: Six variables composed the MH score: age at onset, neutrophil count, fibrinogen, splenomegaly, platelet count, and hemoglobin. The MH score ranged from 0 to 123, and its median value was 97 (1st-3rd quartile 75-123) and 12 (1st-3rd quartile 11-34) in pHLH and MAS, respectively. The probability of a diagnosis of pHLH ranged from <1% for a score of <11 to >99% for a score of  ≥123. A cutoff value of ≥60 revealed the best performance in discriminating pHLH from MAS. CONCLUSION: The MH score is a powerful tool that may aid practitioners to identify patients who are more likely to have pHLH and, thus, could be prioritized for functional and genetic testing