Effectiveness of subcutaneous tocilizumab treatment in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Keywords:
rheumatoid arthritis, disease activityAbstract
Introduction: To improve the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, drugs targeting other pharmacological targets have been developed, such as tocilizumab, whose clinical response is evaluated using therapeutic response indexes.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of treatment with tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted with 75 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis treated with subcutaneous tocilizumab in the protocolized consult at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Surgical Clinical Hospital from July 2019 to July 2020.
Results: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis were predominantly female, non-white, and had dyslipidemia and hypertension as their main comorbidities. Patient age, age at diagnosis, and concomitant use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were variables significantly associated with DAS28 remission. Functional capacity improved substantially at six and 12 months after starting treatment with tocilizumab. In the vast majority of cases, the biological response of patients was good, and adverse effects during treatment were infrequent.
Conclusions: Treatment with tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis produces remission in most of them, with a significant improvement in functional capacity, a good biological response, and a low frequency of adverse effects.
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