RESEARCH - Safety of Remicade used in combination with Arava or azathioprine in daily clinical practice

August 21, 2006

J Rheumatol. 2006 May;33(5):865-9.

Safety of infliximab used in combination with leflunomide or azathioprine in

daily clinical practice.

Perdriger A, Mariette X, Kuntz JL, Brocq O, Kara-Terki R, Loet XL, Cantagrel

A, Pavy S, Deslandre CJ, Debiais F, Combe B; Club Rheumatismes et

Inflammation.

Department of Rheumatology, Medical University, Rennes, France.

aleth.perdriger@...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety of infliximab (INF) combination therapy

with leflunomide (LEF) or azathioprine (AZA) in patients with rheumatoid

arthritis (RA). METHOD: A standardized questionnaire on the use of INF in

combination with LEF or AZA was mailed to hospital physicians and collected

over a 2 month period. Adverse events (AE) and the reasons for withdrawal of

combination therapy were analyzed. RESULTS: Data on 225 patients with RA

were collected retrospectively. INF was used in combination with LEF in 171

patients and with AZA in 54. The duration of INF exposure was similar in

both groups (mean 8.8 mo). AE were reported in 75 patients (33.3%), 60

LEF/INF (35%) and 15 AZA/INF combinations (27.8%) (p=nonsignificant). No

unexpected AE were observed. The main AE were infections (6.2%), cytopenia

(5.8%), hepatotoxicity (5.8%), reactions to infusion (5.3%), and skin

reactions (4%). At the time the questionnaires were sent out, 161 patients

were continuing combination therapies. The main reasons for drug withdrawal

were AE (53 patients, 23.5%), inefficacy (10 patients, 4%), and one

temporary discontinuation for surgery.

CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that INF used in combination with LEF or AZA

could be an alternative to methotrexate/INF combinations.

PMID: 16652418

6652418

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

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