Impact of disease modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on the uveitis risk in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

• Published in: Acta ophthalmologica (Oxford, England) England), 2015-10, Vol.93 (S255), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Tappeiner, C., Klotsche, J., Schenck, S., Niewerth, M., Minden, K., Heiligenhaus, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ophthalmology; Survival analysis; TNF inhibitors; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF
• ISSN: 1755-375X; 1755-3768
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2015.0309

Purpose To analyze the influence of methotrexate (MTX), Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, and their combination on uveitis occurrence in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Methods Data of a nation‐wide prospective rheumatological and ophthalmological database in Germany were evaluated for the years 2002 to 2013. Patient with JIA disease duration of less than 12 months at initial documentation and with a follow‐up of ≥ 2 years were included in this analysis. Discrete‐time survival analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of disease modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on the occurrence of uveitis. Results A total of 3,512 JIA patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria (mean age 8.3 ± 4.8 years, female 65.7%, ANA‐positive 53.2%, mean age at arthritis onset 7.8 ± 4.8 years, mean follow‐up time 3.6 ± 2.4 years). Uveitis manifested in 180 patients (5.1%) within one year after JIA onset, and in further 251 patients (7.1%) after the first year. MTX (HR 0.63, p = 0.022), TNF inhibitors (HR 0.56, p