Sundeep Kumar Upadhyaya
Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, India
Title: Long-term drug free clinical-remissions (CR) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on cDMARDs followed prospectively at a single rheumatology clinic in northern India over two years
Biography
Biography: Sundeep Kumar Upadhyaya
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is conventionally treated with cDMARDs (like Methotrexate, Leflunomide etc) but more severe, cDMARD resistant RA, is treated with a combinations of cDMARDs and Biologics (example Anti-TNF Biologics). Despite close monitoring and follow-up only a fraction of treated patients achieve complete remission and attain a drug free state. A combination of cDMARDs and Biologics in the treatment of early RA has been able to achieve drug free remissions in only a small minority of patients. Complete remissions are rare when patients are treated with cDMARDs alone. Presented here is the clinical description of patients with RA who achieved long-term drug free clinical remissions (CR) with cDMARDs alone at a single rheumatology clinic in northern India and remained in CR over a long period (at least 6 months). The immune-biology of such states and the clinical factors leading to the prolonged CR will be discussed next.