RESEARCH - Early DMARD use results in remission of RA

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ACR: Early DMARD Use Results in Remission of RA

By Gever, Senior Editor, MedPage Today

Published: November 09, 2010

Reviewed by Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of

Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and

Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

ATLANTA -- More than 60% of patients diagnosed with early symptoms of

rheumatoid arthritis were able to achieve remission from the disease

when they were treated early with disease-modifying agents,

specifically methotrexate and prednisone.

Researchers said here that 153 of 261, or 58.6%, of the patients

diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis achieved remission, as did 107 of

161, or 66.5%, of the patients diagnosed with undifferentiated

arthritis. Overall, 63% of patients achieved remission in the study,

said C.F. () Allaart, MD, PhD, associate professor of

rheumatology at Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, the

Netherlands.

" The results show that -- in this group of patients with earlier, and

on average less active, rheumatoid arthritis -- remission percentages

are higher than with similar treatment in more active disease, and

that the addition of high-tapered-to-low prednisone and methotrexate

works in undifferentiated arthritis, " said Allaart at the annual

meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

Allaart noted that previously published early remission rates for

active rheumatoid arthritis are less than 30%. " We now will try to

taper and stop the medication in order to achieve drug-free

remission, " she said in a press briefing.

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Read the full article here:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ACR/23242

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