Prognosis in children with rheumatic diseases: justification for consideration of new therapies.

It is evident that current approaches to the treatment of childhood arthritis, although much improved in the past decade, are still insufficient to halt the destructive progress of these diseases in many children. Furthermore, the treatment itself is associated with toxicity which may be prohibitive. The need for new and innovative treatments is urgent. ABMT is one possible avenue that offers hope to children with severe unresponsive disease. It will be important to select carefully those children who are likely to benefit from such an approach. An appreciation of the prognosis and possible predictors of disease severity should aid in this task.