%0 Journal Article
%T Treatment options in refractory rheumatoid arthritis
%A Roxana R.Onofrei
%A Ioan D.A. Neme£¿
%A Mihai Dragoi
%A Oana Suciu
%J Timisoara Physical Education and Rehabilitation Journal
%D 2010
%I Mirton Publishing
%X Objective: to evaluate rituximab efficacy in refractory rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Method: patients with active rheumatoidarthritis, who failed to achieve remission during DMARDs and biological (TNF inhibitors) therapies and received rituximab (1gintravenously on days 0 and 14 initially, the same scheme at 6 and 12 month) were assessed at baseline (T0), after 2 weeks(T1), 24 weeks (T2) and 48 weeks (T3) by: sera parameters (ESR values, CRP level, RF titer, anti-CCP antibody titers), diseaseactivity (DAS 28 score) and ability to perform activities of daily living (HAQ-DI score). Results: twelve patients with highly activerheumatoid arthritis (10 females and 2 males, mean age 51.83 ¡À 13.07 years)were included in the study group. Treatment ledto significant decrease in all investigated parameters, with a clinical and functional improvement at week 48. No major sideeffects were detected. Conclusions: decreasing disease activity and improving functional, with no major side effects in 1 yearperiod, rituximab may represents the solution for refractory rheumatoid arthritis cases. Further studies on larger groups arerequired.
%K rheumatoid arthritis
%K rituximab
%K disease activity
%U http://www.tperj.ro/en/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Issue_5_Article_8.pdf