Reports on rheumatoid arthritis, gout and fibromyalgia from the 10th Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), held on 10-13 June 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark

The risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease and mortality is increased by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, data on how RA patients perceive their own CV risk and their adherence to CV prevention factors are scarce. We conducted an observational study on 266 patients with RA to determine whether the perceived CV risk correlates to the objective CV risk, and if it influences their compliance with a Mediterranean diet and physical exercise. The objective CV risk was calculated according to the modified European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE). The perceived CV risk did not correlate to the objective CV risk. The correlation was even lower when carotid ultrasound was used. Notably, 64.62% of patients miscalculated their CV risk, with 43.08% underestimating it. Classic CV risk factors, carotid ultrasound markers and ESR and CRP showed significant correlation with the objective CV risk. However, only hypertension and RA disease features showed association with the perceived CV risk. Neither the objective CV risk nor the perceived CV risk were associated with the accomplishment of a Mediterranean diet or physical activity. In conclusion, RA patients tend to underestimate their actual CV risk, giving more importance to RA features than to classic CV risk factors. They are not concerned enough about the beneficial effects of physical activity or diet.

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Effectiveness of disease-modifying antirheumatic drug co-therapy with methotrexate and leflunomide in rituximab-treated rheumatoid arthritis patients: results of a 1-year follow-up study from the CERERRA collaboration

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/annrheumdis-2011-200003 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 71 (3) ◽

pp. 374-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Katerina Chatzidionysiou ◽

Elisabeth Lie ◽

Evgeny Nasonov ◽

Galina Lukina ◽

Merete Lund Hetland ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Synergistic Effect ◽

Concomitant Treatment ◽

Safe Alternative ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

European League Against Rheumatism ◽

Disease Modifying ◽

European League ◽

Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drug

ObjectivesTo compare the effectiveness and safety of rituximab alone or in combination with either methotrexate or leflunomide.Methods10 European registries submitted anonymised datasets with baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12-month clinical data from patients who started rituximab.Results1195 patients were treated with rituximab plus methotrexate, 177 with rituximab plus leflunomide and 505 with rituximab alone. Significantly more patients achieved a European League Against Rheumatism good response at 6 months when treated with rituximab plus leflunomide (29.1%) compared with rituximab plus methotrexate (21.1%) and rituximab alone (19.3%; p=0.02 and p=0.01, respectively). Similar results were observed at 12 months. Adverse events occurred in 10.2%, 13.2% and 13.9% of patients on rituximab plus leflunomide, rituximab plus methotrexate and rituximab alone, respectively.ConclusionsLeflunomide is an effective and safe alternative to methotrexate as concomitant treatment with rituximab. Slightly better results were obtained by the combination of rituximab and leflunomide than rituximab and methotrexate, raising the possibility of a synergistic effect of leflunomide and rituximab.

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