Effectiveness of an once weekly double dose of
etanercept in patients with JIA: a clinical study
Femke H.M. Prince 1*, Marinka Twilt 2, Nelleke C. J. A. Jansen-Wijngaarden 1 and Lisette W.A. van Suijlekom-Smit 1
1 Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, Netherlands
2 Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital/ Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: f.prince{at}erasmusmc.nl.
Accepted 19 February 2007
 | Abstract |
|---|
Etanercept is effective in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
(JIA).[1-3] Currently it is administered subcutaneously
(SC) in the dose of 0,4 mg/kg (maximum of 25 mg) twice
weekly. Clinical trials in adults show that the
administering of an once weekly double dose is effective
enough to induce and retain remission.[4, 5] A
farmakinetic model developed by Yim et al. indicates
that the same dosing regime could be used in children.
[6] Wallace mentions the once weekly double dose in
patients with JIA, but this is not supported by clinical
trials.[7] Therefore we evaluated the efficacy of
etanercept administered once weekly in the dose of 0,8
mg/kg SC (maximum of 50 mg) to retain and induce
remission in patients with JIA.
Keywords:
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, double dose, etanercept, once weekly
