Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
04:50
Preliminary Study on Acupuncture Combined with Grain-sized Moxibustion for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis with Finger Joint Pain
Published on: May 16, 2025
133
[Difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis].
Fahad Jamal Alromaih1, Alexandre Dumusc1
1Service de rhumatologie, Département de l'appareil locomoteur, Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois, 1011 Lausanne.
Revue Medicale Suisse
|March 14, 2024
Summary
Difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (D2TRA) affects 5-20% of patients despite advances. A step-by-step European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology approach guides diagnosis, assessment, and treatment strategies for D2TRA management.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Immunology
- Clinical Medicine
Context:
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent inflammatory condition.
- Recent therapeutic advances have improved RA management.
- Persistent challenges remain, particularly in managing difficult-to-treat RA (D2TRA).
Purpose:
- To define difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (D2TRA).
- To outline the prevalence of D2TRA.
- To present a structured management approach for D2TRA.
Summary:
- D2TRA is characterized by treatment failure with at least two distinct biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
- The reported prevalence of D2TRA ranges from 5% to 20%.
- The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) recommends a systematic strategy for D2TRA, encompassing diagnostic confirmation, inflammatory activity assessment, judicious immunosuppressive therapy selection, and integration of non-pharmacological interventions.
Impact:
- Provides a clear definition and prevalence data for D2TRA.
- Establishes a practical, step-by-step framework for clinicians managing D2TRA.
- Aims to optimize treatment outcomes for patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis.
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