RESEARCH - Intramuscular methylprednisolone acetate may be helpful in very early inflammatory polyarthritis

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Intramuscular Methylprednisolone Acetate May Be Helpful in Very Early

Inflammatory Polyarthritis

Learn more October 23, 2009 — Treatment of patients with very early

inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) with intramuscular

methylprednisolone-acetate appears to postpone the prescription of

disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and to prevent 1 in 10

patients from developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to the

results of a randomized controlled trial published online October 12

in the ls of the Rheumatic Diseases.

" Oral glucocorticoids (GCs) are commonly prescribed to patients with

RA because of their clinical efficacy, " write S.M.M. Verstappen, MD,

from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and colleagues from

the Steroids in Very Early Arthritis (STIVEA) trial investigators.

" However, only a few randomised clinical trials...have examined the

effect of intramuscular (IM) administration of [GCs] in patients with

inflammatory arthritis. "

The goal of this study was to determine whether treatment with a

3-week course of IM methylprednisolone-acetate would postpone the need

for DMARDs and would prevent patients with very early IP from

developing RA.

" The main advantage of this study is that it was performed within the

daily practice of rheumatology, " Bela Siró, MD, PhD, an associate

professor of rheumatology at Debreceni Egyetem, Orvos-és

Egészségtudományi Centrum, and Belgyógyászati Klinika in Debrecen,

Hungary, told Medscape Rheumatology when asked for independent

comment. " Its study protocol, construction, the statistical analysis,

and the conclusions are correct, so we can draw some practical

conclusions from this trial. For patients with early inflammatory

disease, early initiation of GC therapy is very useful, because they

need early relief from their symptoms. "

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Read the full article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/711177

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