Clinical characteristics and outcome of elderly onset adult-onset Still's disease: A 10-year retrospective study

Adult-Onset Still's Disease (AOSD): Advances in Understanding Pathophysiology, Genetics and Emerging Treatment Options

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a multisystemic complex disorder clinically characterised by episodes of spiking fever, evanescent rash, polyarthritis or diffuse arthralgias; multiorgan involvement may develop according to the hyper-inflammatory extent. The pathogenesis of AOSD is not completely recognised. The central role of macrophage activation, which results in T helper 1 (Th1) cell cytokine activation, is well established. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and IL-18 play a fundamental role in disease onset and progression. The disease may develop in both children and adults with overlapping clinical features, and although several subsets depending on the clinical manifestations and the cytokines expressed have been identified, the dichotomy between systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) and AOSD nowadays has been overcome, and the pathology is considered a disease continuum between ages. Various therapeutic approaches have been evaluated thus far, and different compounds are under assessment for AOSD treatment. Historically, glucocorticoids have been employed for treating systemic manifestations of Still's disease, while conventional synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) demonstrated efficacy in controlling the articular manifestations. Currently, biological (b) DMARDs are widely employed; IL-1 inhibitors such as anakinra and canakinumab have proven to have high efficacy and an excellent safety profile and the anti-IL-6 tocilizumab is approved for sJIA, with several trials and longitudinal studies confirming its efficacy and safety. Moreover, in the light of the 'window of opportunity', new evidence showed that the earlier these treatments are initiated, the sooner clinical inactivity can be achieved. Other treatment options are being considered since several molecules involved in the disease pathophysiology can be targeted through various mechanisms. This review will provide a broad overview of AOSD pathophysiology, insights into specific organ manifestations and the currently available treatments with the identification of potential therapeutic targets involved in AOSD pathogenesis will be outlined.

Still's disease continuum from childhood to elderly: data from the international AIDA Network Still's disease registry

OBJECTIVE

Still's disease is more frequently observed in the paediatric context, but a delayed onset is not exceptional both in the adulthood and in the elderly. However, whether paediatric-onset, adult-onset and elderly-onset Still's disease represent expressions of the same disease continuum or different clinical entities is still a matter of controversy. The aim of this study is to search for any differences in demographic, clinical features and response to treatment between pediatric-onset, adult-onset and elderly-onset Still's disease.

METHODS

Subjects included in this study were drawn from the International AutoInflammatory Disease Alliance Network registry for patients with Still's disease.

RESULTS

A total of 411 patients suffering from Still's disease were enrolled; the disease occurred in the childhood in 65 (15.8%) patients, in the adult 314 (76.4%) patients and in the elderly in 32 (7.8%) patients. No statistically significant differences at post-hoc analysis were observed in demographic features of the disease between pediatric-onset, adult-onset and elderly-onset Still's disease. The salmon-coloured skin rash (p=0.004), arthritis (p=0.009) and abdominal pain (p=0.007) resulted significantly more frequent among paediatric patients than in adult cases, while pleuritis (p=0.015) and arthralgia (p<0.0001) were significantly more frequent among elderly-onset patients compared with paediatric-onset subjects. Regarding laboratory data, thrombocytosis was significantly more frequent among paediatric patients onset compared with adult-onset subjects (p<0.0001), while thrombocytopenia was more frequent among elderly-onset patients although statistical significance was only bordered. No substantial differences were observed in the response to treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite some minor difference between groups, overall, demographic, clinical, laboratory and treatments aspects of Still's disease were similarly observed in patients at all ages. This supports that pediatric-onset, adult-onset and elderly-onset Still's disease is the same clinical condition arising in different ages.