Addition Of Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Research Articles

Elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis — clinical findings and treatment features (systematic literature review)

Background. Elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis ­(EORA) is characterized by the disease onset after 60 years. Gi­ven the importance of the global increase in the proportion of older people in the population and the potential consequences, the problem of diagnosis and treatment of EORA is quite relevant. Purpose: to analyze the current literature data on the peculiarities of the clinical picture, differential diagnosis, and treatment of patients with EORA, taking into account comorbidity. Materials and methods. An analytical review of literature data was conducted using information analysis of the databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar for the period 2013–2023, but it did not exclude key works that were published earlier, using the keywords “elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis”, “rheumatoid arthritis”, “diagnosis”, “treatment”, “prognosis”. Results. A review of the lite­rature demonstrated that while previous studies have mainly argued that EORA is a milder form of the disease with a favorable prognosis, recent studies have shown greater disease activity and severity, as well as worse clinical, functional, and radiological outcomes. Despite recent advances in the understanding of RA pathogenesis and new treatment strategies, there is still controversy regarding the management of EORA patients. Clinical practice shows that most patients with EORA are prescribed purely nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and glucocorticoids (GC) without the addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD). Real-world data have demonstrated that the treatment of elderly patients with RA is often unsatisfactory due to concerns about the possible side effects of DMARD, the presence of comorbidities, polypharmacy, and cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients. Conclusions. EORA presents a unique clinical profile, such patients require individualized treatment strategies, mandatory addition or switch to DMARD based on disease activity, comorbidities, and safety considerations to optimize treatment outcomes and minimize GC and NSAIDs intake, thereby improving the quality of treatment of elderly patients.

Heel fat pad involvement in rheumatoid arthritis: a review and case series.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease affecting not only the synovial joints but also multiple extra-articular sites, including ankle and foot soft tissue. Hindfoot abnormalities usually follow those in the forefoot, with up to 4 out of 10 patients experiencing talalgia during their disease course. Enthesophytosis, retrocalcaneal bursitis, and plantar fasciitis are among the most common etiologies, while heel fat pad abnormalities like subcalcaneal bursitis are rare. Here, we report two cases of subcalcaneal bursitis, and the first case of heel fat pad and subcalcaneal bursa herniation in patients with established RA, along with a comprehensive literature review of subcalcaneal bursitis and other heel fat pad abnormalities in RA. Subcalcaneal bursitis, also referred to as panniculitis, inflammatory-edematous lesion, or adventitial (adventitious) bursitis has been reported in up to 10% of patients with RA. It appears as a compressible, heterogeneous, and hypoechoic subcalcaneal mass on ultrasound (US), with peripheral vascularization on Doppler US. Patients may present with heel discomfort. Ultrasonographic assessment is usually sufficient to confirm the presence of heel fat pad pathologies. Rest, analgesics, and mechanical aids with or without addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are usually employed, while intervention is rarely required.

Factors predicting addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs after initial methotrexate monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

We investigated factors predicting the addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) after an initial methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to support an early decision on the DMARDs addition. This retrospective cohort study included 311 patients who were diagnosed with RA and started on MTX monotherapy at Showa University Hospital, Japan. The outcome was addition of DMARDs after an initial MTX monotherapy at 6 months. Baseline patient characteristics were compared between the DMARDs addition and MTX monotherapy continuation groups, and significant independent predictive factors for the addition of DMARDs were selected using multivariate analysis. The median age of patients was 62 years (range 24-90), 170 patients (73%) were women, the median swollen 28-joint count (SJC28) was 3 (0-28), and the median tender 28-joint count (TJC28) was 5 (0-28). DMARDs were added in 65 (27.9%) patients. In the univariate analysis, higher TJC28 and SJC28, concomitant use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and intra-articular glucocorticoid (GC) injection history were significantly associated with the DMARDs addition. In the multivariate analysis, by adding covariates to the variables identified in the univariate analysis, SJC28 (odds ratio [OR] 1.390 per 5 joints increase; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.036-1.866) and intra-articular GC injection history (OR 3.678; 95% CI, 1.170-11.557) were independent predictors of DMARDs addition. A higher SJC28 and intra-articular GC injection history may be useful predictors of DMARDs addition after the initial MTX monotherapy. We expect that using these predictors will enable an earlier shift to a more aggressive treatment. Key Points ・We performed a retrospective cohort study with the addition of DMARDs as the outcome in patients with RA who were started on MTX monotherapy. ・A higher SJC28 (OR 1.390; 95% CI, 1.036-1.866) and an intra-articular GC injection history (OR 3.678; 95% CI, 1.170-11.557) may be useful predictors for the addition of DMARDs of initiating MTX monotherapy at 6 months. ・The use of such indicators may support an early decision on the addition of DMARDs after the initial MTX monotherapy.

Addition of another disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug to methotrexate reduces the flare rate within 2 years after infliximab discontinuation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: An open, randomized, controlled trial

Objectives. We examined whether the addition of another conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to methotrexate (MTX) upon infliximab (IFX) discontinuation in well-controlled rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients could suppress subsequent disease flare.Methods. RA patients maintaining DAS28-CRP (Disease Activity Score of 28 joints with C-reactive protein) scores < 2.6 for ≥ 6 months with IFX were randomized either to receive addition of bucillamine (BUC) to MTX (BUC + MTX group; n = 24) or not (MTX group; n = 31) upon discontinuing IFX. The primary endpoint was the flare rate within 2 years of IFX discontinuation.Results. Six patients discontinuing MTX during the study were excluded from analyses. Seventeen patients (63.0%) experienced flares in the MTX group, which was significantly reduced in the BUC + MTX group (31.8%; p = 0.045). Further, the flare rates differed significantly between remission and non-remission by a Boolean definition upon IFX discontinuation in the MTX group (40.0% vs. 91.7%, respectively; p = 0.014), but they were comparable in the BUC + MTX group. BUC treatment was interrupted in seven patients due to rash, proteinuria and incompliance.Conclusions. DMARDs combination therapy may be a better treatment strategy than MTX monotherapy for maintaining RA control after successful discontinuation of biological agents.

Aktuelle Therapieansätze bei Riesenzellarteriitis

Giant cell arteritis is the most common systemic vasculitis and affects large and medium-sized vessels. Glucocorticoids are the current standard in the therapy of giant cell arteritis. To reduce the glucocorticoid dose the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) suggests the addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Of these, methotrexate represents the best investigated drug; possible alternatives include azathioprine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors and cyclophosphamide.

Heroic Treatment for Nonmalignant Disease

Severe progressive rheumatoid arthritis remains a therapeutic challenge. The usual approach has been described by Wilbur Blechman as resembling choices from a Cantonese restaurant menu—take one or more from column A and also from column B. Thus, the control of inflammation, or at least of the symptoms produced by inflammation, is made a responsibility of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and, in some cases, of corticosteroids. At the same time, inhibition of the progression of the disease generally requires addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, also known as remission-inducing drugs, such as gold salts, penicillamine, antimalarials, azathioprine, and a variety of experimental drugs and procedures borrowed from the treatment of other diseases. Gold compounds were first introduced because of a confusion between tuberculosis and rheumatoid arthritis; penicillamine began as an agent to remove copper from patients who had Wilson's disease; chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine sulfate were used to prevent or treat malaria, while azathioprine