Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40102025›Full record

ArticleRMD open2025

Infliximab use and cervical spine deformity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Anna Baukje Lebouille-Veldman, Tom W J Huizinga, Rania A Mekary, Carmen L A Vleggeert-Lankamp

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in RMD open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Anna Baukje Lebouille-VeldmanDepartment of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands abveld@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0001-5385-4729
Tom W J HuizingaDepartment of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7033-7520
Rania A MekaryDepartment of Neurosurgery, Computational Neuroscience Outcomes Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Carmen L A Vleggeert-LankampDepartment of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveOver the past decades, the incidence of surgery for rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-associated cervical spine deformity decreased. Infliximab has been observed as a protective treatment for joint damage in hands and feet; yet, the protective association between infliximab and the cervical spine has been uncertain.

methodsDuration of infliximab use during 10 years of follow-up was evaluated in patients with new-onset RA (case control study using data from the BeSt Trial). Missing values on the exposure were imputed using last observation carried forward. Lateral X-rays at 5-year and 10-year follow-ups were assessed for atlantoaxial subluxation (AAS) and subaxial subluxation (SAS). Multiple logistic regression models adjusted for age, gender, baseline Disease Activity Score (DAS44), ACPA-positivity and rheumatoid factor-positivity were used to estimate ORs and their 95% CIs. Mediation analysis was performed to evaluate whether a potential association was mediated via mean DAS44.

resultsCervical deformity (AAS and/or SAS>2 mm) was observed in 108 (40%) of 272 patients. There was an 11% reduction in odds for cervical spine deformity (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81 to 0.98; p=0.02) for every 1-year increase in duration of infliximab use. Mediation analysis could not reveal an influence of DAS44 on the association between infliximab use and cervical spine outcomes.

conclusionsThere was evidence of a beneficial association between longer duration of use of infliximab and cervical spine deformity after 10 years follow-up. Thus, it is important to balance the favourable effects of infliximab use for the joints and possibly the cervical spine with the potential adverse events of this medication when used continuously. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Netherlands Trial Register Number: NTR262.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidCervical VertebraeInfliximabAdultAgedAtlanto-Axial JointCase-Control StudiesFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedSeverity of Illness IndexAntirheumatic AgentsInfliximabBiological TherapyInfliximabRheumatoid Arthritis

Identifiers

PMID40102025
PMCPMC11934621

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.