[Pyrithioxine: a new basic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Open study of 60 cases with a follow-up of 6 months]

Pyrithioxine, a chemical compound with several points in common with penicillinamine, was used for six months as the basic treatment in a series of 60 cases of rheumatoid arthritis, in a dose of 600 mg per day. The results were favourable in 60 per cent of cases, with a marked fall in articular index, a return to normal of sedimentation rate and, less commonly, negativisation of the Rose-Waaler reaction. Side effects were essentially cutaneo-mucosal (pruitus, rash) and necessitated the interruption of treatment in 16.5 per cent of cases. No complications were seen. Compared with penicillinamine, pyrithioxine appears to be less effective but better tolerated. The place of this new basic drug in the basic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis remains to be precisely determined.