Decreased flares of RA during the first year of etanercept treatment

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Ann Rheum Dis 2002 Jul;61(7):638-40

Decreased flares of rheumatoid arthritis during the first year of

etanercept treatment: further evidence of clinical effectiveness in the

" real world " .

Yazici Y, Erkan D, Kulman I, Belostocki K, on MJ.

Division of Rheumatology, The Hospital for Special Surgery, Weill

Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of disease flare during the first

year of etanercept treatment for 88 patients with rheumatoid arthritis

(RA) and compare it with the incidence of flare in those same patients

in the year before etanercept use. METHODS: The outpatient clinic charts

of all patients with RA who were prescribed etanercept in or before

September 1999, who also had at least one year's follow up in the same

outpatient clinic, were surveyed. The primary outcome measure was the

number of disease flares in one year before and after etanercept use.

The secondary outcome measures included the number of patients who did

and did not flare, how flares were treated, and the drug alterations

that were necessary during the same two time intervals. RESULTS: The

total number of flares for all patients in the year before etanercept

treatment was 214 (mean (SD) 2.43 (1.75)). The number of flares in the

first year of etanercept treatment decreased to 83 (mean 0.94 (1.07))

(p<0.0001). The total number of patients who had at least one flare in

the year before etanercept use was 80; eight had no flares. In their

first year of etanercept treatment, 50 patients had at least one flare;

38 had no flares (p<0.0001). Twenty one patients (24%) stopped using

etanercept before completing one year's treatment. CONCLUSION: This

study of patients with RA in the " real world " shows that etanercept is

effective in reducing the number of RA flares.

PMID: 12079908