Urate lowering therapy with febuxostat in daily practice-a multicentre, open-label, prospective observational study

Introduction. Febuxostat, a novel xanthine oxidase inhibitor for the treatment of symptomatic hyperuricemia, showed superiority over allopurinol in the reduction of serum uric acid levels in pivotal studies. Whether this holds true the FORTE (febuxostat in the oral urate lowering treatment: effectiveness and safety) study was conducted to evaluate treatment with febuxostat under daily practice conditions. Materials/Methods. The multicentre, open-label, and prospective observational study was conducted in 1,690 German medical practices from 9/2010 to 5/2011. Safety and efficacy data were assessed at baseline and week 4. Results. Data from 5,592 gout patients (72.6% male, mean age 63.7 years) were collected. Under urate lowering treatment with febuxostat mean serum uric acid levels decreased significantly from 8.9 ± 1.9 mg/dL (534.0 ± 114.6 μmol/L) at baseline to 6.2 ± 2.5 mg/dL (372.0 ± 150.0 μmol/L) at week 4. 67% which reached the mean uric acid target (6.1 ± 1.0 mg/dL [366.0 ± 59.4 μmol/L]). Only 43.1% of patients received concomitant flare prophylaxis. A total of 178 adverse events (mostly gout flares) were reported in 152 patients (2.6%). Conclusion. Febuxostat lowers serum uric acid levels effectively in routine clinical practice. Overall, treatment with febuxostat in both available dosages (80 mg/120 mg) was safe and well tolerated.