Erschienen in:
01.10.2007 | Case Report
Tumor necrosis factor blockade in the management of children with orphan diseases
verfasst von:
Riva Brik, Vardit Gepstein, Eli Shahar, Dorit Goldsher, Drora Berkovitz
Erschienen in:
Clinical Rheumatology
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Ausgabe 10/2007
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Abstract
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockade has been used successfully to treat a number of rheumatic disorders that have a substantial burden of illness. In children, the TNF antagonists are used mainly for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). There are, however, a variety of rare systemic inflammatory diseases, in which TNF blockade appears promising. Preliminary data in adults suggest that several forms of vasculitis appear to be responsive to TNF antagonists—Behcet’s disease, polyarteritis nodosa, Wegener granulomatosis, among others. Some of them respond better to infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-TNF antibody, than to etanercept, a recombinant p75 TNF receptor. We describe our limited experience with infliximab in the treatment of three children with rare vasculitic conditions.