Advancing Juvenile Spondyloarthritis: Closing Knowledge Gaps with New Axial JSpA Classification Criteria.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Until recently, the absence of validated, pediatric-specific classification criteria for juvenile spondyloarthritis (JSpA) limited targeted clinical trials evaluating treatment efficacy and advancements in understanding the natural history in pediatric-onset disease. There is an urgent need for efficacy and effectiveness studies in this understudied group.

RECENT FINDINGS: Most children with JSpA continue to experience disease activity despite current therapies and generally have worse outcomes than those with other juvenile arthritis forms. Fewer than 20% achieve remission within five years of diagnosis. Axial involvement is a distinct manifestation warranting separate study and management, as it does not respond to conventional agents like methotrexate used for peripheral arthritis. Comparative effectiveness data are lacking, and no medications are FDA-approved specifically for "juvenile spondyloarthritis" or "juvenile ankylosing spondylitis." The only FDA-approved therapy for enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) is secukinumab. In 2024, pediatric classification criteria for axial disease in JSpA were published. These criteria include seven domains: MRI inflammation, MRI structural lesions, pain chronicity, pain pattern, pain location, stiffness, and genetic association. Imaging evidence of axial disease is necessary but not sufficient for classification. This review provides an overview of JSpA epidemiology, current and emerging classification criteria, and highlights the key features of the newly validated pediatric axial JSpA classification criteria.