ReviewRheumatology advances in practice2025
The effectiveness and safety of leflunomide in the treatment of giant cell arteritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Rheumatology advances in practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Real-World Steroid Burden, Treatment Patterns, and Rheumatologists' Perceptions on Advanced Therapy in Giant Cell Arteritis.Rheumatology and therapy · 2026Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objectives: The objective of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness and safety of leflunomide in the treatment of new-onset refractory or relapsing giant cell arteritis (GCA) as a glucocorticoid (GC)-sparing agent. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Embase, clinical trial registries and other grey literature sources for randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies and case series that reported on the use of leflunomide in GCA. The primary effectiveness outcome was the incidence (proportion) of patients who attained sustained GC-free remission at 6 to12 months, defined by the absence of signs or symptoms of GCA, and/or normalization of inflammatory markers, and/or radiologic response, plus complete discontinuation of GC. The secondary outcomes were remission on low-dose GC and adverse events. There was no available comparator. We performed a meta-analysis using a random effects model. Included studies were appraised for risk of bias. Results: Of 366 screened studies, 11 observational studies were included in the analysis, pooling data from 358 patients. The pooled proportion of patients achieving sustained GC-free remission was 45% (95% CI 25-64, Conclusion: Leflunomide's utility as a GC-sparing agent is promising but remains to be elucidated in future higher-quality studies. PROSPERO protocol registration CRD42023490373.
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Registered trials
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