Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 15;12(1):2563.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-06584-y.

Increased remission with fewer corticosteroids and more biologics in rheumatoid arthritis at 7-year follow-up in real-life conditions

Guillaume Larid  1   2 , Justine Vix  1 , Ronan Garlantezec  3 , Elodie Loppin  1 , Elisabeth Gervais  4   5
Affiliations

Increased remission with fewer corticosteroids and more biologics in rheumatoid arthritis at 7-year follow-up in real-life conditions

Guillaume Larid et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an important therapeutic target that is not easy to achieve in real-life conditions. Some prognostic factors have been identified but the literature is variable. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the remission rate and the maintenance of remission in patients with RA over 7 years of follow-up in real-life conditions and to identify prognostic factors of long-term remission. Patients with RA seen at the Poitiers University Hospital were identified and clinical and biological data were collected. Data were analysed after 1 year and 7 years. Twice as many patients were in remission at 7 years than at 1 year of follow-up. 48.6% of patients who were not in remission at 1 year obtained remission at 7 years of follow-up. Patients achieving remission were more often receiving coprescription of csDMARDs and bDMARDs. Patients not in remission at 7 years were given more corticosteroids at higher doses. After 7 years of follow-up, low initial disease activity and use of csDMARDs and bDMARDs appeared to be independent positive predictive factors. Once obtained at one year, remission was maintained for 76% of our patients. As a conclusion, modern management of RA, whatever disease duration, leads to remission rates similar to those of early RA after 7 years of follow-up.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Description of remission and remission maintenance between 2009 and 2015: Patients (n = 215) consulting with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Rheumatology department at the Poitiers University Hospital in 2008 and follow-up until 2015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Smolen JS, et al. EULAR recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis with synthetic and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: 2019 update. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2020;79:685–699. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-216655. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Castrejón I, et al. Prediction of remission in a French Early Arthritis Cohort by RAPID3 and other core data set measures, but not by the absence of rheumatoid factor, anticitrullinated protein antibodies, or radiographic erosions. J. Rheumatol. 2016;43:1285–1291. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.141586. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Radner H, Smolen JS, Aletaha D. Remission in rheumatoid arthritis: benefit over low disease activity in patient-reported outcomes and costs. Arthritis Res. Ther. 2014;16:R56. doi: 10.1186/ar4491. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Katchamart W, et al. Predictors for remission in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A systematic review. Arthritis Care Res. 2010;62:1128–1143. doi: 10.1002/acr.20188. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Acosta-Mérida Á, Naranjo A, Rodríguez-Lozano C. Prognostic factors for sustained remission in a “real life” cohort of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Reumatología Clínica. 2020;16:405–409. doi: 10.1016/j.reuma.2018.10.002. - DOI - PubMed