Background
synovitis, inflammation, Rheumatoid arthritis, RA, reduced physical disability
SYNOVITIS, INFLAMMATION, DISEASE, REMISSION, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by significant synovitis and structural joint damage, as well as systemic inflammation and extra-articular manifestations of disease [Treating to target is an intensive and dynamic strategy [Multiple studies have demonstrated sustained remission or LDA, inhibition of radiographic progression, and reduced physical disability in patients with RA in response to early, aggressive treatment [Currently, treatment decisions are based on group-level efficacy data from clinical trials. However, a better understanding of an individual patient’s long-term response to particular treatment strategies is desirable. It would be useful to know, for example, whether the majority of patients who achieve early (e.g., within 6 months [The selective co-stimulation modulator abatacept, which disrupts naive T cell activation, is effective in treating patients with early RA [While the primary analysis assessed the overall percentage of patients achieving SDAI remission in a defined subset of the entire study population (primary analysis population; 