Serum S100A8/A9 and S100A12 Levels in Children With Polyarticular Forms of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Relationship to Maintenance of Clinically Inactive Disease During Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy and Occurrence of Disease Flare After Discontinuation of Therapy.

Objective: To determine the relationship between serum levels of S100A8/A9 and S100A12 and the maintenance of clinically inactive disease during anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy and the occurrence of disease flare following withdrawal of anti-TNF therapy in patients with polyarticular forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods: In this prospective, multicenter study, 137 patients with polyarticular-course JIA whose disease was clinically inactive while receiving anti-TNF therapy were enrolled. Patients were observed for an initial 6-month phase during which anti-TNF treatment was continued.

Risk, Timing, and Predictors of Disease Flare After Discontinuation of Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy in Children With Polyarticular Forms of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis With Clinically Inactive Disease.

Objective: To determine the frequency, time to flare, and predictors of disease flare upon withdrawal of anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy in children with polyarticular forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who demonstrated ≥6 months of continuous clinically inactive disease.

Methods: In 16 centers 137 patients with clinically inactive JIA who were receiving anti-TNF therapy (42% of whom were also receiving methotrexate [MTX]) were prospectively followed up. If the disease remained clinically inactive for the initial 6 months of the study, anti-TNF was stopped and patients were assessed for flare at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 months.

A Mild PUM1 Mutation Is Associated with Adult-Onset Ataxia, whereas Haploinsufficiency Causes Developmental Delay and Seizures.

Certain mutations can cause proteins to accumulate in neurons, leading to neurodegeneration. We recently showed, however, that upregulation of a wild-type protein, Ataxin1, caused by haploinsufficiency of its repressor, the RNA-binding protein Pumilio1 (PUM1), also causes neurodegeneration in mice. We therefore searched for human patients with PUM1 mutations.

Integrating exome sequencing into a diagnostic pathway for epileptic encephalopathy: Evidence of clinical utility and cost effectiveness.

Background: Epileptic encephalopathies are a devastating group of neurological conditions in which etiological diagnosis can alter management and clinical outcome. Exome sequencing and gene panel testing can improve diagnostic yield but there is no cost-effectiveness analysis of their use or consensus on how to best integrate these tests into clinical diagnostic pathways.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cost-effectiveness study comparing trio exome sequencing with a standard diagnostic approach, for a well-phenotyped cohort of 32 patients with epileptic encephalopathy, who remained undiagnosed after "first-tier" testing.

High Levels of DEK Autoantibodies in Sera of Patients With Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and With Early Disease Flares Following Cessation of Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Therapy.

Objective: The nuclear oncoprotein DEK is an autoantigen associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), especially the oligoarticular subtype. DEK is a secreted chemotactic factor. Abundant levels of DEK and DEK autoantibodies are found in inflamed synovium in JIA.

A De Novo Mutation in the Sodium-Activated Potassium Channel KCNT2 Alters Ion Selectivity and Causes Epileptic Encephalopathy.

Early infantile epileptic encephalopathies (EOEE) are a debilitating spectrum of disorders associated with cognitive impairments. We present a clinical report of a KCNT2 mutation in an EOEE patient. The de novo heterozygous variant Phe240Leu SLICK was identified by exome sequencing and confirmed by Sanger sequencing.

Pressure Mapping of a Standard Hospital Recliner and Select Cushions With Healthy Adults: A Comparative Study.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to compare the degree of pressure created when healthy adult volunteers sat on a hospital recliner chair in various positions and on various cushions.

Design: Comparative cross-sectional study.

Subjects And Setting: Thirty-four healthy subjects were recruited from the community, an urban city in a rural area of Eastern North Carolina.

Proceedings of the 2016 Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Scientific Meeting : Toronto, Canada. 14-17 April 2016.

P1 Serologic evidence of gut-driven systemic inflammation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis Lampros Fotis, Nur Shaikh, Kevin Baszis, Anthony French, Phillip Tarr P2 Oral health and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis Sriharsha Grevich, Peggy Lee, Sarah Ringold, Brian Leroux, Hannah Leahey, Megan Yuasa, Jessica Foster, Jeremy Sokolove, Lauren Lahey, William Robinson, Joshua Newsom, Anne Stevens P3 Novel autoantigens for endothelial cell antibodies in pediatric rheumatic diseases identified by proteomics Rie Karasawa, Mayumi Tamaki, Megumi Tanaka, Toshiko Sato, Kazuo Yudoh, James N. Jarvis P4 Transcriptional profiling reveals monocyte signature associated with JIA patient poor response to methotrexate Halima Moncrieffe, Mark F. Bennett, Monica Tsoras, Lorie Luyrink, Huan Xu, Sampath Prahalad, Paula Morris, Jason Dare, Peter A.

Asparagine Synthetase Deficiency causes reduced proliferation of cells under conditions of limited asparagine.

Asparagine Synthetase Deficiency is a recently described cause of profound intellectual disability, marked progressive cerebral atrophy and variable seizure disorder. To date there has been limited functional data explaining the underlying pathophysiology. We report a new case with compound heterozygous mutations in the ASNS gene (NM_183356.

Safety of celecoxib and nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: results of the Phase 4 registry.

Background: This study aimed to assess long-term safety and developmental data on juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients treated in routine clinical practice with celecoxib or nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (nsNSAIDs).

Methods: Children aged ≥2 to <18 years with rheumatoid-factor-positive or -negative polyarthritis, persistent or extended oligoarthritis, or systemic arthritis were enrolled into this prospective, observational, multicenter standard-of-care registry. Eligible patients were newly or recently prescribed (≤6 months) an nsNSAID or celecoxib.

Traumatic vulvar hematoma masquerading as a bartholin duct cyst in a postmenopausal woman.

Unlabelled: Vulvar hematomas, while typically occurring following vaginal delivery, are occasionally seen in the nonpregnant patient following perineal trauma. When these, as well as any vulvar mass, are discovered in a postmenopausal woman, concern regarding a neoplasm exists.

Case: A 66-year-old woman was found to have a large vulvar mass which was initially believed to be a Bartholin duct cyst.

Participants' experiences of hospital-based peer support groups for stroke patients and carers.

Purpose: The aim was to examine stroke patients', carers' and volunteer supporters' experiences of peer support groups during hospital rehabilitation.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were analysed by inductive thematic analysis. Participants also answered a standardised Therapeutic Factors Inventory (TFI).

Juvenile dermatomyositis as a paraneoplastic phenomenon: an update.

Approximately 33% of adult patients with dermatomyositis develop malignancy with up to 42% presenting after the diagnosis has been made; careful evaluation for malignancy is often undertaken at the time of dermatomyositis diagnosis. This phenomenon has rarely been noted in pediatric patients and extensive workup for malignancy is not indicated in pediatric patients. In 1993, 6 cases were reported in which juvenile dermatomyositis/polymyositis (JDM/PM) appeared to be part of a paraneoplastic phenomenon.

Lymphoma arising from a calcinotic lesion in a patient with juvenile dermatomyositis.

Approximately one-third of adult patients with dermatomyositis develop malignancy, usually within 1 year of diagnosis of dermatomyositis. This phenomenon is not seen in patients with juvenile dermatomyositis. We are reporting a case of B-cell lymphoma arising from a calcinotic lesion in a 14-year-old girl who had been diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis 3 years prior.