PAFLAR guidelines for oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Waleed Hassan¹, Doaa Mosad Mosa², Ayodele Faleye³, Temesgen Teferi Libe⁴, Elisa Palalane⁵, Angela Migowa⁶, Sulaiman Al Mayouf⁷, Helen Foster⁸, Mohammed Hassan Abu-Zaid⁹, Soad Hashad¹⁰, Wafa Hamdi¹¹, Hanene Lassoued Ferjani¹¹, Ahmed Seri¹², Hanna Lishan¹³, Chafia Makhloufi Dahou¹⁴, Yasmine Makhlouf¹⁵, Yasmine Taha¹⁶, Yaninga Halwani Fusseini¹⁷, Wassila Messadi¹⁸, Ali Sobh¹⁹, Samah Ismail Nasef²⁰, Ourida Gacem²¹, Madeleine Ngandeu²², Francis Fredrick Furia²³, Samy Slimani²⁴, Christiaan Scott^{25

26}, Djohra Hadef²⁷

Affiliations

¹ Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Benha University, Banha, Egypt.
² Department of Rheumatology & Rehabilitation, Mansoura University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. doaamosad@mans.edu.eg.
³ Pediatric Rheumatology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Teaching Hospital, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁴ College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
⁵ Hospital Central de Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁷ King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Population Health and Society Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
⁹ Rheumatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
¹⁰ University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya.
¹¹ Department of Rheumatology, Kassab Institute UR17SP04, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia.
¹² European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹³ Addis Ababa University, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹⁴ Department of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine of Algiers, Med Lamine Debaghine University Hospital, Bab El Oued, BD Said Touati, Algiers, Algeria.
¹⁵ Mohammed Kassab Institute of Orthopaedics, Tunis, Tunisia.
¹⁶ Ahmed Gasim Children's Hospital, Khartoum North, Sudan.
¹⁷ Tamale Teaching Hospital, Tamale, Ghana.
¹⁸ University Hospital of Issaad Hassani, Algiers, Algeria.
¹⁹ Mansoura University Children's Hospital, Mansoura, Egypt.
²⁰ Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
²¹ Societe Algerienne de Pediatrie, Blida, Algeria.
²² University of Yaounde, Soa, Cameroon.
²³ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
²⁴ , Batna, Algeria.
²⁵ University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
²⁶ University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁷ Faculty of Medicine, Batna 2 University, Batna, Algeria.

PMID: 41492017
DOI: 10.1007/s10067-025-07792-3

PAFLAR guidelines for oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Waleed Hassan et al. Clin Rheumatol. 2026.

. 2026 Jan 5.

doi: 10.1007/s10067-025-07792-3. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Benha University, Banha, Egypt.
² Department of Rheumatology & Rehabilitation, Mansoura University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt. doaamosad@mans.edu.eg.
³ Pediatric Rheumatology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Teaching Hospital, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁴ College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
⁵ Hospital Central de Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique.
⁶ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁷ King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Population Health and Society Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
⁹ Rheumatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
¹⁰ University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya.
¹¹ Department of Rheumatology, Kassab Institute UR17SP04, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia.
¹² European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹³ Addis Ababa University, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹⁴ Department of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine of Algiers, Med Lamine Debaghine University Hospital, Bab El Oued, BD Said Touati, Algiers, Algeria.
¹⁵ Mohammed Kassab Institute of Orthopaedics, Tunis, Tunisia.
¹⁶ Ahmed Gasim Children's Hospital, Khartoum North, Sudan.
¹⁷ Tamale Teaching Hospital, Tamale, Ghana.
¹⁸ University Hospital of Issaad Hassani, Algiers, Algeria.
¹⁹ Mansoura University Children's Hospital, Mansoura, Egypt.
²⁰ Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
²¹ Societe Algerienne de Pediatrie, Blida, Algeria.
²² University of Yaounde, Soa, Cameroon.
²³ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
²⁴ , Batna, Algeria.
²⁵ University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
²⁶ University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁷ Faculty of Medicine, Batna 2 University, Batna, Algeria.

PMID: 41492017
DOI: 10.1007/s10067-025-07792-3

Abstract

Objective: To present updated evidence-based recommendations with a range of therapeutic options for children in Africa with oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), adopting the treat to-target approach.

Methods: This study was conducted by the Paediatric Society of the African League Against Rheumatism (PAFLAR) to reach a consensus for recommendations regarding diagnosis and management of oligoarticular JIA suitable for application among different African countries. The Delphi technique was used to reach a consensus of 15 key questions identified by the steering committee. According to the PICO (patient/population, intervention, comparison, outcome) approach, a voting process among 22 African and international clinicians and experts in the field of pediatric rheumatology was performed after intensive systematic review of literature.

Results: A consensus was reached for 15 recommendations for diagnosis, monitoring, management of the disease, and its complications, intervention, and when to discontinue treatment of oligoarticular JIA patients with high level of agreement (ranging between 85 and 95%) who agreed or strongly agreed, and the response rate was 100%.

Conclusion: These recommendations focus on the early diagnosis and multidisciplinary management of oligoarticular JIA and its complications with high levels of consensus and agreement, improving practice consistency among healthcare providers. Key Points • A panel of experts created a consensus about the early diagnosis of oligoarticular JIA • Consensus-based recommendations to the management of oligoarticular JIA • These guidelines emphasized on the oligoarticular JIA-specific characteristics, severity factors, and treatment alternatives.

Keywords: Arthritis; Guidelines; Juvenile; Oligoarticular; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Disclosures: None.

References

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PAFLAR guidelines for oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Affiliations

PAFLAR guidelines for oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources