Annals of the rheumatic diseases
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Clinical, functional and radiographic consequences of achieving stable low disease activity and remission with adalimumab plus methotrexate or methotrexate alone in early rheumatoid arthritis: 26-week results from the randomised, controlled OPTIMA study.
To assess the efficacy and safety of adalimumab plus methotrexate (ADA+MTX) compared with methotrexate monotherapy in achieving stable low disease activity (LDA; disease activity score (DAS28(CRP)) <3.2 at weeks 22 and 26) and clinical, radiographic and functional outcomes in methotrexate-naive patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ Treatment with ADA+MTX was significantly superior to methotrexate alone with respect to clinical, radiographic and functional outcomes in patients with early active RA. Before initiating treatment with adalimumab, individual patient evaluation of the benefit/risk ratio should be carefully considered.