RESEARCH - Most RA patients required orthopedic surgery during pre-biologics era

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Most RA Patients Required Orthopedic Surgery During Pre-Biologics Era

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Oct 02 - More than half of a cohort of over

180 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) required orthopedic

surgery, and one quarter underwent at least one large joint

replacement, during a 2-decade study that took place before anti-TNF

agents and other biologic therapies were widely available, Swedish

investigators report.

" This study could serve as a reference for comparison with cohorts of

patients with RA recruited today, in which new, more efficacious

treatments are used, " Dr. M. C. Kapetanovic and colleagues write in

the October issue of the ls of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Dr. Kapetanovic's group at Lund University initiated their study in

1985, recruiting 183 patients with recent-onset RA (mean age 51 years

and mean symptom duration 12 months).

" The approach to pharmacological treatment was conservative compared

with current treatment strategies in early RA, " they note. None of the

patients had received disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs)

prior to the study, and " D-penicillamine and antimalarial drugs were

most commonly used in the early years and subsequently methotrexate

became the most commonly used DMARD. "

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Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/581425

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