Introduction

       Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is one of the more common chronic diseases among children and approximately half of these children may continue to have arthritis into adulthood.
       We are also seeing new developments regarding long-term outcomes of existing therapies and the emergence of new agents with significant potential for treating JIA.
       With these points in mind, we convened a roundtable discussion on the topic of current concepts in the management of JIA.
       We initially reviewed the various subtypes of JIA as designated by the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR). The panelists shared their thoughts on the signs and symptoms of the various subtypes ranging from oligoarticular JIA to psoriatic JIA.
       Dr. Lovell reviewed the key outcome measures used by researchers to evaluate treatments in clinical trials. We also discussed definitions of inactive disease and Ms. Taylor emphasized clinical tools to facilitate patient adherence to treatment regimens.
       We explored the pros and cons of first-line management with NSAID therapy. The panelists also discussed the merits of intraarticular corticosteroids for patients with JIA. We subsequently shared our thoughts on the role of the oft-studied methotrexate in JIA. The panelists also considered what recent studies have revealed about current and emerging biologic agents for the treatment of JIA.
       I would like to thank Dr. Lovell and Ms. Taylor for sharing their insights during this forum. I would also like to acknowledge Abbott Laboratories for its unrestricted support of this discussion. Hopefully, the perspectives and commentary on this subject will be beneficial for all clinicians who treat JIA.

— Donald P. Goldsmith, MD