TY - JOUR T1 - Dose escalation of leflunomide (LEF) to 40 mg once daily in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and insufficient response to standard dose LEF JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 746 LP - 747 DO - 10.1136/ard.2003.014217 VL - 63 IS - 6 AU - C Fiehn AU - E Rochel AU - A D Ho AU - R Max Y1 - 2004/06/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/63/6/746.abstract N2 - Leflunomide (LEF) is a new disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and it is recommended that it is given in a loading dose of 100 mg over 3 days followed by a stable dose of 20 mg/day.1,2 The dose of 20 mg/day LEF was recommended because in an initial study which compared 5, 10, and 25 mg/day LEF the highest dose tended to result in an increased rate of adverse events.3 However, in this study a clear dose-response relationship with best results in the 25 mg/day group was observed as well. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to evaluate whether patients who tolerate LEF in the standard dose of 20 mg/day will tolerate a dose escalation of LEF to 40 mg/day and whether this … ER -