Patients with relapse of polyarthritis after exchange of parenteral to equal dose of oral methotrexate (MTX)
| Patient No | Diagnosis | Age | Disease duration/period of remission (years) | MTX dose per week during substitution of PO for IM (mg) | Period of oral MTX therapy up to relapse (weeks) | Concurrent treatment | Joint erosions (x ray) | Activity index (DAS28)2 during remission/relapse | Activity index (DAS28) 2 months after renewal of IM MTX | Improvement in DAS28 (EULAR good response: >1.2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RA, rheumatoid arthritis; PsA, psoriatic arthropathy; IM, intramuscular; PO, oral; Pred, prednisone; SSZ, sulfasalazine; Plq, Plaquenil. | ||||||||||
| 1 | RA sero(+)ve | 63 | 10/3 | 12.5 | 3 | Pred 5 mg/d | + | 1.6/4.4 | 3.1 | 1.3 |
| 2 | RA sero(+)ve | 47 | 12/2 | 15 | 4 | – | + | 2.2/5.3 | 3.8 | 1.5 |
| 3 | RA sero(+)ve | 62 | 8/4 | 20 | 8 | Pred 5 mg/d | – | 1.7/4.7 | 2.9 | 1.8 |
| SSZ | ||||||||||
| 4 | RA sero(+)ve | 38 | 1/0.5 | 12.5 | 3 | – | – | 1.9/5.1 | 3.6 | 1.5 |
| 5 | RA sero(–)ve | 70 | 5/2.5 | 17.5 | 4 | Pred 5 mg/d | – | 1.2/4.5 | 2.8 | 1.7 |
| Plq | ||||||||||
| 6 | RA sero(–)ve | 53 | 15/4 | 12.5 | 8 | Plq, SSZ | + | 2.5/5.5 | 4.4 | 1.1 |
| 7 | PsA | 49 | 3/2 | 12.5 | 8 | Pred 5 mg/ 7.5 mg/d | + | 2.1/4.9 | 3.7 | 1.2 |
| 8 | PsA | 55 | 7/6 | 20 | 10 | – | – | 1.4/4.7 | 3.0 | 1.7 |
| Average (SD) | 55 (10) | 8 (5)/3 (1.7) | 15 (3.4) | 6 (2.8) | 1.8 (0.4)/4.9 (0.4) | 3.4 (0.6) | 1.5 (p<0.001) | |||