JIA

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is a major public health problem, affecting around 1-2 in 1000 children under the age of 16. Current classification, based on clinical criteria, is still unsatisfactory as many of the identified subgroups appear too inhomogeneous. Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish, early in the disease course, between patients who are most likely to develop joint damage, and who therefore require a more aggressive treatment at an early stage, from those who will have a mild disease course. Finally, in clinical trials drug efficacy is judged only on clinical parameters, since measures that can allow the early identification of the progression of joint damage, and therefore of drug efficacy on disease progression, are not available in children.

Since 2006 our research group (PI Rosendahl) has established a unique, longitudinal, “JIA-phenobank”, which includes detailed clinical data and standardised radiographs, MRI and ultrasound examination of 330 children with wrist and/or hip JIA from four large paediatric centres in London, Paris, Genoa and Rome (EU FP6 Health-A-Child). We have also established normal standards for MR and radiographs of the wrist (The Tromsø Wrist Cohort; PhDs Ording-Müller 2012 and Avenarius 2017, both UiT).

In 2012 we established a national, interdisciplinary group (PI Prof. Rosendahl, UiT/UNN), inlcuding paediatric radiologists, rheumatologists and dentists from Tromsø (Prof. Ellen Nordal), Trondheim (Prof. Marite Rygg) and Bergen (Prof., dentist, Marit Skeie) to elaborate on normal standards and to establish valid imaging scoring systems for active and chronic disease with a focus on temporo-mandibular joints; the NorJIA study. The first two PhD's using data from the NorJIA study emerged from UiT the Arctic University of Norway in 2020 and 2021 (www.Norjia.com). May 3rd 2022, Oskar Angenete, MD, radiologist at StOlavs Hospital, Trondheim, defended his thesis, "Imaging of the temporomandibular joint in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis; references and novel scoring systems for active and permanent disease", September 9th 2022, Cand odont Johannes Fischer defended his thesis "Subjective symptoms, clinical signs and imaging features related to temporomandibular disorder in juvenile idiopathic arthritis” and March 10th 2023 Cand odont Elisabeth grut Gil defended her thesis “Oral health in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis - Caries, plaque, gingival bleeding, and oral health-related quality of life”. Currently, there are 5 ongoing PhD projects. 

Moreover, Dr. Laura Tanturri de Horatio, PhD fellow at UiT 2021-24, was awarded the ESPR Innovation Award for her work on a novel scoring system for MRI of the hips in children with JIA at the annual ESPR (European society for pediatric radiology) congress in Marseille, early June 2022.

Collaborative centers for the EU FP6 funded HeC study: Great Ormond Street Hospital in London (PI’s Prof Rosendahl / Catherine Owens), Genova (PI Prof Alberto Martini), Rome (PI Prof Paolo Toma) and Paris (PI Prof Francis Brunelle).

Additional collaborative groups: OMERACT JIA group (Prof Andrea Doria, Sick Kids Toronto, Prof Mario Maas, AMC Amsterdam).