RESEARCH - Early inflammatory arthritis versus RA

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Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2009 Mar;21(2):118-23. Links

Early inflammatory arthritis versus rheumatoid arthritis.

Finckh A.

Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has started to be

perceived as a potentially curable condition with early, aggressive

use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. We review the

pathophysiological concepts of RA development, the technological

advances used to estimate the individual risk of progression to RA,

and the impact of antirheumatic therapy for patients presenting with

early inflammatory arthritis.

RECENT FINDINGS: The finding of a strong gene-environment interaction

has modified our concepts of RA pathogenesis and opened new

opportunities for disease prevention and therapeutic interventions.

Anticyclic citrullinated antibodies and prediction rules have improved

our ability to estimate the risk of progression to RA in individual

patients presenting with early inflammatory arthritis. In patients at

high risk of developing RA, results from trials suggest that treating

these patients with potent antirheumatic therapies may slow the

progression from early inflammatory arthritis to definite RA and

inhibit the progression of joint damage.

SUMMARY: Early inflammatory arthritis is a critical period of the

disease, during which therapy may have a durable effect and change the

natural course of the condition. Physicians need to assess the

individual risk of progression to RA in patients presenting with early

inflammatory arthritis and consider initiating early disease-modifying

antirheumatic drug therapy in patients at high risk of developing RA.

PMID: 19339921

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19339921

Not an MD