PURPOSE: As a prelude to developing updated, evidence-based, international consensus recommendations for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA), the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Treatment Guidelines Committee undertook a critical appraisal of published guidelines and a systematic review (SR) of more recent evidence for relevant therapies.

METHODS: Sixteen experts from four medical disciplines (primary care two, rheumatology 11, orthopaedics one and ...

Importance: Severe pneumonia with hyperinflammation and elevated interleukin-6 is a common presentation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Objective: To determine whether tocilizumab (TCZ) improves outcomes of patients hospitalized with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

Design, Setting, and Particpants: This cohort-embedded, investigator-initiated, multicenter, open-label, bayesian randomized clinical trial investigating patients with COVID-19 and moderate or severe pneumonia ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy and safety of treatment with rituximab plus methotrexate (MTX) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had an inadequate response to anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies and to explore the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of rituximab in this population.

METHODS: We evaluated primary efficacy and safety at 24 weeks in patients enrolled in the Randomized Evaluation of Long-Term Efficacy of Rituximab in RA (REFLEX) Trial, a ...

PURPOSE: To develop concise, patient-focussed, up to date, evidence-based, expert consensus recommendations for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA), which are adaptable and designed to assist physicians and allied health care professionals in general and specialist practise throughout the world.

METHODS: Sixteen experts from four medical disciplines (primary care, rheumatology, orthopaedics and evidence-based medicine), two continents and six countries (USA, UK, France, ...

OBJECTIVE: To validate and compare the definition of the Disease Activity Score 28 based on C-reactive protein (DAS28 (CRP)) to the definition based on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).

METHODS: Data were analysed from two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of abatacept of 6-month and 12-month duration in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria and the proportion of patients in remission (DAS28 <2.6) based on ...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of certolizumab pegol (CZP) after 24 weeks in RAPID-axSpA (NCT01087762), an ongoing Phase 3 trial in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), including patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axSpA (nr-axSpA).

METHODS: Patients with active axSpA were randomised 1:1:1 to placebo, CZP 200 mg every 2 weeks (Q2W) or CZP 400 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W). In total 325 patients were randomised. Primary endpoint was ASAS20 ...

BACKGROUND: Secukinumab is an anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody that has been shown to control the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis in a phase 2 trial. We conducted two phase 3 trials of secukinumab in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis.

METHODS: In two double-blind trials, we randomly assigned patients to receive secukinumab or placebo. In MEASURE 1, a total of 371 patients received intravenous secukinumab (10 mg per kilogram of body weight) or matched placebo at weeks ...

OBJECTIVE: The hallmark of osteoarthritis (OA) is the loss of articular cartilage. This loss arises from an imbalance between cartilage synthesis and cartilage degradation over a variable period of time. The aims of this study were to investigate the rates of these processes in patients with knee OA using two new molecular markers and to investigate whether the combined use of these markers could predict the progression of joint damage evaluated by both radiography and arthroscopy of the ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare work disability, sick leave, and productivity costs due to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) of three European countries.

METHODS: 216 patients with AS from the Netherlands, France, and Belgium participated in a two year observational study. Employment and work disability rates at baseline were adjusted for age and sex. Productivity costs were calculated by both the friction cost method and the human capital approach. The adjusted contributions of country to employment, ...

OBJECTIVES: This double-blind trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of abatacept or infliximab vs placebo. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the mean change from baseline in Disease Activity Score (based on erythrocyte sedimentation rates; DAS28 (ESR)) for the abatacept vs placebo groups at day 197.

METHODS: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX) were randomised 3:3:2 to abatacept ( approximately 10 mg/kg every 4 ...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA).

METHODS: Patients fulfilled Assessment of Spondyloarthritis international Society (ASAS) criteria for axial spondyloarthritis, had a Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) score of ≥ 4, total back pain score of ≥ 4 (10 cm visual analogue scale) and inadequate response, intolerance or contraindication to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab for up to 52 weeks in two phase 3 studies of patients with active radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) who were biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD)-naive (COAST-V) or tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi)-experienced (COAST-W).

METHODS: Adults with active r-axSpA were randomised 1:1:1:1 (n=341) to 80 mg ixekizumab every 2 (IXE Q2W) or 4 weeks (IXE Q4W), placebo (PBO) or 40 mg adalimumab Q2W ...

OBJECTIVE: Remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an increasingly attainable goal, but there is no widely used definition of remission that is stringent but achievable and could be applied uniformly as an outcome measure in clinical trials. This work was undertaken to develop such a definition.

METHODS: A committee consisting of members of the American College of Rheumatology, the European League Against Rheumatism, and the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Initiative met to guide the ...

BACKGROUND: Biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are recommended for radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, otherwise known as ankylosing spondylitis, when conventional therapies are not effective. We report efficacy and safety data on ixekizumab, a high-affinity monoclonal antibody that selectively targets interleukin-17A (IL-17A), in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis who have not previously been treated with bDMARDs.

METHODS: In this phase 3, ...

OBJECTIVES: To compare retention rates of adalimumab, etanercept and infliximab as first-line biotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to determine causes of discontinuation, retention-associated factors, and retention rates of possible second-line TNF-α inhibitors (TNFi).

METHODS: In this retrolective, multicentric study, medical charts of RA patients starting TNFi between March 2005 and April 2009 were reviewed, with follow-up between two and six years. The retention rate was estimated ...