Biologic Treatments and Growth in JIA

Investigators from multiple institutions in France conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the growth velocity of pediatric juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients before and after the start of biologic therapy and ascertain other determinants of growth response. Patients were eligible if they had JIA, were prepubertal at biologic treatment onset, remained on biologic therapy for at least 6 months after its initiation, had never received growth hormone therapy, and had no other medical condition that could affect growth. Height data of study participants were abstracted from their medical records and height standard deviation score (SDS) was calculated at disease …