RA: Difficult-to-treat cases persist in real world despite intensive treatment

Key clinical point: Considerable proportions of cases with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are still difficult to treat in real world despite intensive treatment.

Major finding: Among patients with RA, 10.1% were categorized as having difficult-to-treat RA despite being treated intensively. Main reasons for difficulty in treating RA were multidrug resistance (34.1%), comorbidities (9.8%), and socioeconomic reasons (56.1%).

Study details: Data come from an analysis of 1,709 patients with RA who visited Keio University Hospital between 2016 and 2017.

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Disclosures: The study did not receive any funding. S Takanashi reported no conflicts of interest. Y Kaneko and T Takeuchi reported receiving grants or speaker fees from various sources.

Source: Takanashi S et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Mar 2. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab209.