Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes in Patients Diagnosed with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis in the First Years of the Biologic Treatment Era: A 10-year Prospective Observational Study

Objective. To study short-term and longterm clinical and radiographic outcomes in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the first decade of the biologic treatment era.

Methods. Patients with early RA diagnosed at a rheumatology outpatient clinic were consecutively enrolled between 1999 and 2001. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, disease activity, patient-reported outcomes, and treatments. Radiographs of hands and feet were performed at baseline and after 2, 5, and 10 years and scored according to the Sharp/van der Heijde method, yielding a modified total Sharp score (mTSS).

Results. Mean baseline age for the 94 included patients (36 men and 58 women) was 50.4 years and symptom duration 12.3 months; 67.8% were rheumatoid factor–positive. The proportion of patients in remission and in low, moderate, and high disease activity status was at baseline 4.3%, 1.1%, 35.1%, and 59.6% and at 10 years 52.1%, 20.5%, 27.4%, and 0.0%, respectively. For the period 0–2 years, 62.8% had used prednisolone, 91.5% synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), and 18.1% biologic DMARD, and for the period 2–10 years the numbers were 50.6%, 89.3%, and 62.7%, respectively. At baseline, 70% of the patients had erosions on radiographs. Mean annual change in mTSS was for 0–2 years 3.4, 2–5 years 1.7, and 5–10 years 1.2.

Conclusion. A large proportion of our patients with RA diagnosed and treated in the new biologic treatment era achieved a status of clinical remission or low disease activity and had only a minor increase in radiographic joint damage after the first years of followup.