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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Age of Onset, Arthritis, Juvenile, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Finland, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, HLA-B27 Antigen, Humans, Joints, Male, Prospective Studies, Scandinavian and Nordic Countries, Severity of Illness Index, Sex Factors, Time Factors.
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Does hLA-B27 predict a more chronic disease course in an 8-year followup cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis? Context: We investigated associations of HLA-B27 with clinical manifestations and longterm outcome in a near population-based setting among patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We studied clinical and serological data from 410 patients with HLA-B27 results among 440 prospectively collected patients with JIA with 8-year followup data in a Nordic database. The study was structured to be as close to a population-based study as possible. HLA-B27 was analyzed in 93% of patients, and was positive in 21% of the cohort, in 18.4% of the girls and in 25.9% of the boys. Boys who were HLA-B27-positive had significantly higher age at onset compared to HLA-B27-negative boys and compared to both HLA-B27-negative and positive girls. This difference in onset age in relation to HLA-B27 was not found in girls. HLA-B27 was associated with clinical signs of sacroiliitis, enthesitis, and tenosynovitis in boys, but not in girls. After 8 years of disease, 46 children (11.2%) were classified as having enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA). Boys with ERA had clinical signs of sacroiliitis more often than girls with ERA. HLA-B27-positive children, as well as children with clinical signs of sacroiliitis, enthesitis, and hip arthritis, had higher odds of not being in remission off medication after 8 years of disease.
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In this near population-based Nordic JIA cohort we found significant differences between HLA-B27-positive boys and girls in age at disease onset, clinical signs of sacroiliitis, and ERA classification. HLA-B27 was negatively associated with longterm remission status, possibly because of its association with clinical disease characteristics, such as sacroiliitis, rather than being a general marker of persistent disease. Final Decision: yes