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Advances in the treatment of inflammatory arthritis
Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology, 08/01/2012
Pisetsky DS et al. – While the array of available effective treatments is extensive, the use of objective measures of disease activity can guide treatment decisions and lead to improved outcomes.
- The inflammatory arthritides are a diverse group of conditions characterised by joint inflammation which can lead to pain, deformity and disability.
- Of these diseases, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis are two of the most common.
- While the clinical and demographic features of these diseases differ, the central role of inflammation in their pathogenesis has allowed the development of highly effective treatment strategies with wide applicability.
- These strategies include the use of biological agents which target the cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF), a key mediator of inflammation.
- With the advent of effective agents, therapy has become more aggressive, reducing disease activity and allowing, at least in RA, remission in many patients.
