Background: With a prevalence of 0.71%, psoriasis represents one of the most frequent dermatoses in childhood.
Patients and methods: Eight children with severe psoriasis who failed to respond to other therapy received a weight- adapted treatment with etanercept (0.8 mg/kg body) administered subcutaneously once weekly after latent tuberculosis had been excluded. Follow-up visits were at week 4 and 12, subsequently every 12 weeks.
Results: Mean age at the start of treatment was 11.8 (range 7-16), six patients were boys. Within three months, six patients reached Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) reduction of 75%. Two patients stopped use at week 12 because of ineffectiveness. Apart from local side reactions and minor infections, no adverse events were observed.
Conclusion: In our case series, etanercept proved to be an efficient drug in juvenile psoriasis without serious adverse events. However, patient registries and further randomized, double-blinded control studies are crucial to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of etanercept.