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VIDEO: Research shows effective, less expensive options for managing patients with rheumatoid arthritis
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WASHINGTON — Several significant trials published in the last year could change the approach to treatment of autoimmune disorders, Salahuddin Kazi, MD, from UT Southwestern Medical Center, said here at the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting.
One open-label 12-month trial compared DMARDs used in combination to treatment with anti-TNF drugs in patients failing methotrexate and found no difference in the rate of disability, Kazi said. Over the course of 1 year, the use of DMARDs resulted in a savings of approximately $7,700.
In a review of more than 37,000 patients in a claims database, researchers compared the rate of hyperlipidemia in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate or an anti-TNF drug. The rates of hyperlipidemia were lower in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine, which “is of great interest because hyperlipidemia is a modifiable risk factor for coronary artery disease,” a significant cause of long-term morbidity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Kazi said.