Core management principles in rheumatoid arthritis to help guide managed care professionals

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects approximately 1% of the population. Initial symptoms include joint swelling, stiffness, and tenderness, which are all causes of disability. The diagnosis of RA is based on patient history of joint pain and stiffness, the documentation of symmetric polyarticular joint synovitis, and laboratory measures including radiographs, inflammatory markers, and autoantibodies. As the disease progresses, synovial inflammation leads to cartilage damage, bone erosions, and joint destruction, the major causes of long-term disability. RA is associated with many comorbidities and complications, including cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for higher rates of mortality among patients compared with the general population. Over the past 2 decades, advances in the development of synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biologic agents for RA have markedly changed treatment goals and management strategies.

To review recent updates in the diagnosis and treatment of RA, as well as the importance of early and aggressive treatment and management strategies.

Borrowing from other medical fields, a paradigm of "tight control" of RA has been supported by evidence and is gaining wide acceptance in rheumatology. In 2010, the American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) published revised classification criteria for RA, which will assist in the diagnosis of early RA and facilitate appropriate treatment intervention. Over the last decade, many patients on biologic agents have demonstrated that early and aggressive treatment of RA is beneficial in treating synovial inflammation, delaying joint damage, and improving patient outcomes. Contemporary management strategies based on early diagnosis, aggressive treatment, and regular monitoring have helped a significant number of patients with RA achieve current treatment goals of low levels of disease activity and, in some cases, clinical remission.