ArticleRMD open2019
Re-treatment with abatacept plus methotrexate for disease flare after complete treatment withdrawal in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: 2-year results from the AVERT study.
Article in RMD open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of pharmacological treatment in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic literature research informing the 2019 update of the EULAR recommendations for management of rheumatoid arthritis.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2020Pooled it
- Prediction of flare following remission and treatment withdrawal in early rheumatoid arthritis: post hoc analysis of a phase IIIb trial with abatacept.Arthritis research & therapy · 2022Trial
- Predicting abatacept retention using machine learning.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Observational
- Sustained Remission and Outcomes with Abatacept plus Methotrexate Following Stepwise Dose De-escalation in Patients with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis.Rheumatology and therapy · 2023Article
- Pre-RA: Can early diagnosis lead to prevention?Best practice & research. Clinical rheumatology · 2022Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: To complete reporting of outcomes after total withdrawal of all rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy and re-treatment after flare in Assessing Methods: Patients with early RA were initially randomised to double-blind, weekly subcutaneous abatacept plus methotrexate, or abatacept or methotrexate monotherapy. At month 12, patients with Disease Activity Score (DAS)28 C reactive protein (CRP) <3.2 had all RA treatments rapidly withdrawn and were observed for ≤12 months or until flare. After ≥3 months' withdrawal, patients with protocol-defined RA flare received open-label abatacept plus methotrexate for 6 months (re-treatment). Results: Proportion of patients in DAS28-CRP-defined remission remained numerically higher in original abatacept plus methotrexate and abatacept arms versus methotrexate arm up to day 253 of withdrawal. At the end of the withdrawal period, few patients remained in remission across all arms: 9/73 (12.3%), 7/50 (14.0%) and 6/53 (11.3%), respectively. For patients entering re-treatment, after 6 months' re-treatment, 95/124 (76.6%) and 78/124 (62.9%) patients achieved DAS28-CRP <3.2 and <2.6, respectively; mean changes in DAS28-CRP and Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index scores from re-treatment baseline were -2.87 and 0.76, respectively. Re-treatment was well tolerated; exposure-adjusted infection rates per 100 patient-years were lower with abatacept plus methotrexate during withdrawal (7.2) and re-treatment (17.2) versus initial treatment periods of months 0-6 (116.6) and 6-12 (64.6). Conclusions: Most patients flared within 6 months of therapy withdrawal and few sustained major responses for 1 year. Re-treatment with abatacept plus methotrexate was effective and well tolerated in this controlled setting.
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