PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jorge Jaimes-Hernández
AU  - Manuel Robles-San Román
AU  - Rodrigo Suárez-Otero
AU  - M Eugenia Dávalos-Zugasti
AU  - Sergio Arroyo-Borrego
TI  - Rheumatoid arthritis treatment with weekly leflunomide: an open-label study.
DP  - 2004 Feb 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 235--237
VI  - 31
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/31/2/235.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/31/2/235.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2004 Feb 01; 31
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the safety and effectiveness of leflunomide (LNF) using 100 mg/week in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Patients who were clinically active using the American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA were enrolled. They received a loading dose of 100 mg of LFN for 3 days, followed by 100 mg of LFN weekly. Efficacy and adverse events (AE) were recorded. RESULTS: Fifty patients were enrolled; 46 (93.6%) were women with a mean age of 45.6 years (range: 24 to 83). Disease duration was 3.7 years (range: 0.5 to 12). Twenty patients (40.8%) had previously taken disease modifying antirheumatic drugs. Outcomes achieved after 24 weeks of treatment were as follows: ACR20 (74%), ACR50 (64%), and ACR70 (28%). Five patients were withdrawn due to AE: 2 due to urticaria, 2 patients had elevated liver enzymes, and one had thrombocytopenia. Six patients (12%) were lost to followup. No severe AE were seen. CONCLUSION: The results in our preliminary report indicate that using a 100 mg/week dose achieves a similar benefit to the LFN 20 mg/day treatment, and there were no severe AE. In addition, a single LFN weekly dose has better treatment compliance. A secondary important benefit is the reduction of the monthly cost of medication. Comparative and blind trials are necessary in order to confirm longterm improvement and benefits on this regimen.