Key clinical point: A modern treat-to-target (T2T) approach with the use of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) resulted in low disease activity (LDA) and remission in 90% of pregnant patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Major finding: Among patients treated with T2T, 90.4% and 76.1% of patients were in LDA or remission, respectively, in the third trimester. Mean disease activity over time was lower in patients treated with the T2T approach vs. reference cohort ( P less than .001).
Study details: Findings are from an analysis of 309 patients with RA from the PreCARA cohort who wished to conceive or were pregnant. Patients were treated with a T2T approach with the use of TNFi and/or a combination of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs along with obvious pregnancy restrictions. The reference cohort consisted of pregnant patients with RA treated according to the 2002-2010 standards from the PARA study.
Disclosures: This investigator-initiated study was supported by UCB and Dutch Arthritis Foundation (ReumaNederland). The investigators did not report any competing interests.
Source: Smeele HTW et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2021 Feb 10. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-219547.