Intravenous Laser Blood Irradiation Increases Efficacy of Etanercept in Selected Subtypes of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: An Innovative Clinical Research Approach

Table 4

Evolution of ACR core set of variables at 20 weeks from initiation of ILBI.

Variable	Group I—ILBI (𝑛=14)		Group II—Placebo (𝑛=9)		Statistic comparison among groups
	Initial	After 20 weeks	Initial	After 20 weeks	Initial	After 20 weeks
No. of joints with active arthritis	9.9±3.5	4.4±1.5	10.1±2.1	5.8±2.0	𝑃=0.890	𝑃=0.034
No. of joints with limited range of motion	38.5±5.6	16.3±4.7	38.71±4.8	24.3±7.7	𝑃=0.942	𝑃=0.002
Score for physician’s global assessment of disease activity	8.4±1.2	3.1±0.9	8.7±0.9	3.9±1.1	𝑃=0.498	𝑃=0.046
Score for parent’s or patient’s global assessment of overall wellbeing	8.6±1.0	3.4±1.0	9.1±0.9	4.2±1.3	𝑃=0.213	𝑃=0.043
CHAQ score	14.9±2.6	5.7±1.1	14.0±2.2	6.9±1.3	𝑃=0.390	𝑃=0.013
ESR—mm/hr	50.6±24.8	15.9±7.9	51.6±15.6	22.9±11.1	𝑃=0.922	𝑃=0.045

CHAQ: Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire. ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate.