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Dear All,
Greetings from the IRA E News letter Editorial Team,
Few practically relevant studies are highlights of this issue.
Long-term data of vasculitis maintenance remission study (WEGENT Trial,Puéchal X et al, Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016 Mar;68(3):690–701.) suggest that azathioprine (AZA) or methotrexate (MTX) could effectively maintain remission of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Data from 10 years of follow-up is presented for 112 (88.8%) of the 126 original trial participants. The median follow-up time was 11.9 years. In patients receiving AZA and those receiving MTX, the 10-year overall survival rates were 75.1% and 79.9%, respectively, and relapse-free survival rates were 26.3% and 33.5%, respectively.
Triple DMARD therapy in early aggressive RA and improvement in cholesterol after 2 years (Charles-Schoeman C et al., Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016 Mar; 68(3):577–586.) is another interesting study. In this study, the use of triple therapy during 2 years of follow-up was associated with higher HDL cholesterol levels, lower LDL cholesterol levels, and lower total cholesterol: HDL cholesterol ratios compared to those observed in patients who received MTX monotherapy or MTX plus etanercept combination therapy.
Yet another relevant study is change in signal intensity of SI joints on MRI in axial spondyloarthropathy after 6 weeks of NSAIDS (Varkas G. et al, Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016;68(3):672–678.) In this single center study, 80% of the patients displayed high-intensity lesions on STIR images at baseline, which decreased significantly at week 6 of NSAID therapy.
“The perspective’ story is about a day to day relevant problem that our lupus patients face. Articulate.
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iraenewsletter@hotmail.com
Website: www.iraenewsletter.com
Regards,
Banwari Sharma
Editor, IRA e-Newsletter
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