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Radiological evaluation of erosions: a quantitative method for assessing long‐term remittive therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.
Author(s) -
O'Brien WM
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1986.tb03001.x
Subject(s) - rheumatoid arthritis , medicine , drug , penicillamine , cyclophosphamide , gold standard (test) , radiological weapon , gold salts , complete remission , surgery , dermatology , chemotherapy , pharmacology
1 The most reliable method for evaluating possible remission‐inducing properties in a drug is to measure how well it prevents the appearance of new erosions in serial X‐rays of the hands. 2 I have reviewed the literature on the development, over the last 25 years, of a standard method for quantitatively assessing the progress of erosions radiologically. 3 The only drugs thus far shown to be genuinely remission‐inducing are cyclophosphamide, high‐dose penicillamine, and (most consistently over several decades) gold‐thiols, all drugs with life‐threatening toxicity. 4 The search for a non‐steroidal drug with remission‐inducing properties is crucial in our efforts to find a safe drug to control the progression of rheumatoid arthritis.