Objective To investigate the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of leflunomide for rheumatoid arthritis, and formulate an evidence-based treatment plan for a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods We searched the ACP Journal Club, The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2007) and MEDLINE (1990 to 2007), and critically appraised the available evidence. Results The available Level A (high quality) evidence showed that the efficacy and adverse events of leflunomide were comparable to those of methotrexate. The total cost of treating patients with leflunomide was significantly higher when compared to methotrexate. The combination of leflunomide and methotrexate in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis unresponsive to methotrexate monotherapy was less costly and more effective than the strategy excluding leflunomide. Given the current evidence, together with our clinical experience and the patient’s preference, methotrexate was administered to the patient. There was an inadequate response after 6 months of treatment. And then, adding leflunomide to methotrexate attained a remarkable response 3 months later. The patient is still being followed up. Conclusion treatment with leflunomide and methotrexate in RA patients can improve the clinical outcomes. Long-term efficacy and toxicity remain to be established.
Objective To explore the clinical effect of intramuscular injection of methotrexate on hysteroscopic treatment of endogenous cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP). Methods A prospective analysis was conducted on 94 patients diagnosed with endogenous CSP who visited the Department of Gynecology in Liuzhou Workers’ Hospital between January 2013 and January 2018, and they were randomly divided into two groups, the intramuscular injection of methotrexate followed by hysteroscopic surgery group (the methotrexate group, n=39) and the direct hysteroscopic surgery group (the non-methotrexate group, n=55). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, surgical complications, length of hospital stay, hospitalization expenses, the recovery time of blood human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and treatment outcomes of the two groups were compared. The normally distributed data were expressed as mean±standard deviation, and the non-normally distributed data were expressed as median (lower quartile, upper quartile). Results There was no statistically significant difference in age, gestational sac diameter, uterine scar thickness, number of cesarean sections, time from cesarean section to present, time of menopause, or preoperative blood HCG value between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in intraoperative blood loss [75 (35, 120) vs. 65 (35, 130) mL, P=0.821], incidence of complications (5.1% vs. 5.5%, P=1.000), postoperative blood HCG recovery time [(5.22±2.17) vs. (4.96±1.81) weeks, P=0.559] or the effective rate of treatment (94.9% vs. 90.9%, P=0.747) between the two groups. The methotrexate group had longer operation time [43 (34, 55) vs. 32 (28, 35) min, P=0.001], longer length of hospital stay [(10.89±1.42) vs. (5.82±1.47) d, P<0.001], and higher hospitalization cost [(8596.46±3336.59) vs. (7058.84±2638.49) yuan, P=0.014]. Conclusion For patients with endogenous CSP, intramuscular injection of methotrexate before hysteroscopic surgery is not necessary, for it has no significant impact on the treatment effect, instead, it may prolong the operation time and length of hospital stay, and increase the hospitalization cost.
ObjectiveTo compare the clinical efficacy of methotrexate perfusion combined with interventional treatment and the traditional treatment with methotrexate and mifepristone for cesarean scar pregnancy. MethodA total of 589 patients diagnosed with cesarean scar pregnancy after surgery between January 2012 and March 2015 in our hospital were selected to be our study subjects. The patients were informed of the two kinds of treatment, and based on their own will, they were arranged into corresponding groups. Group A had 234 patients who were willing to undergo the conventional therapy:intramuscular injection of methotrexate (20 mg, once per day for 5 days); oral mifepristone (50 mg once per day for 3 to 5 days); and the continuation of drugs was determined by local pregnancy tissue blood flow on B ultrasound and liver function of the patients. Group B had 255 patients who selected uterine artery perfusion and arterial embolism. There was no significant difference in terms of age, serum human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and uterine incision gestation sac size between the two groups of patients (P>0.05). Then we compared the treatment effect between the two groups. ResultsThe differences in the amount of bleeding, the time of blood HCG dropped to normal, and hospitalization duration between the two groups were significant (P<0.05), while in the rate of hysterectomy, drug-induced liver injury were not (P<0.05). ConclusionsMethotrexate perfusion combined with interventional treatment is better than the traditional treatment with methotrexate and mifepristone for cesarean scar pregnancy in terms of clinical efficacy and safety.
bjectiveTo observe the effecacy of immunosuppressive agents on modulation of the disorders of inflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines in acute pancreatitis, and to investigate the mechanism of treatment of acute pancreatitis with immunosuppressive agents. MethodsSD male rats were divided into 6 groups: group 1, the normal control group (n=6); group 2, acute pancreatitis induced by ductual injection of 5%sodium cholate sulfur at the volume of 1.0 ml/kg without treatment (n=8). After the pancreatitis were induced, the rest rats were injected intravenously with 5Fu 40 mg/kg (group 3, n=6); or methylprednisolone 30 mg/kg (group 4, n=6); or cyclophosphamide 20 mg/kg (group 5, n=6); or methotrexate 1.2 mg/kg (group 6, n=6). Twentyfour hours afteroperation, the animals were killed, the blood samples were taken for measurement of TNFα, IL1, IL6 (by bioassay), and IL10, TGFβ (by ELISA) as well as amylase. ResultsThe inflammatory cytokines (TNFα,IL1,IL6 ) and the antiinflammatory cytokines (IL10 and TGFβ), in blood of acute pancreatitis were increased significantly. After treated with immunosuppressive agents, both the inflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines were decreased in different degrees. Some indexes of the severity of acute pancreatitis, such as amylase and pancreatic weight were improved obviously.ConclusionImmunosuppressive agents can regulate inflammatoryassociated cytokines increased remarkably in the acute pancreatitis. Therefore, improvement of acute pancreatitis can be achieved through rectifying the abnormal immunity and relieving the pathophysiological disorders of the acute pancreatitis by immunosuppressive agents.
Objective To analyze the effectiveness of conservative medical treatments for ectopic pregnancy (EP): methotrexate (MTX) + mifepristone + Ectopic Pregnancy II decoction (EP-II) vs. methotrexate + mifepristone. Methods A total of 95 patients with EP in Shenzhen Shajing Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from January 2009 to January 2011 were randomly divided into two groups: 45 patients in the experimental group were treated with MTX, mifepristone and EP II decoction, while the other 50 patients in the control group were treated with MTX and mifepristone. The effectiveness of the two groups was analyzed with SPSS 13.0 software. Results There were significant differences in the time of serum β-HCG return to normal (16.13±8.13 ds vs. 22.05±7.15 ds, Plt;0.05), time of EP mass absorption (30.46±7.56 ds vs. 39.99±18.26 ds, Plt;0.05) and tubal patency rate (80% vs. 75%, Plt;0.05) between the two groups. But there were no significant differences in effective rate (95.56%, 43/45 vs. 94%, 47/50, χ2=0.0809, Pgt;0.05) and side effects. Conclusion The combination of methotrexate, mifepristone and EP II decoction for ectopic pregnancy is more effective than mifepristone and methotrexate in coordinately killing the embryo, shortening the time of serum β-HCG return to normal and the time of EP mass absorption, and improving the function of oviducts.
ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of iguratimod compared with methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, VIP, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the efficacy and safety of iguratimod compared with methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis from inception to June 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 10 RCTs involving 970 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: there was no statistical difference between iguratimod and methotrexate in ACR20 (RR=1.06, 95%CI 0.91 to 1.23, P=0.49), ACR50 (RR=0.93, 95%CI 0.73 to 1.19, P=0.55), ACR70 (RR=0.92, 95%CI 0.62 to 1.39, P=0.70), morning stiffness time (MD=0.45, 95%CI –0.26 to 1.16, P=0.22), tender joint count (MD=0.07, 95%CI –2.31 to 2.45, P=0.95), swollen joint count (MD=–0.30, 95%CI –1.44 to 0.84, P=0.61), health assessment questionnaire (MD=0.01, 95%CI –0.05 to 0.07, P=0.73) and the rate of adverse effects (RR=0.66, 95%CI 0.41 to 1.07, P=0.09). Meta-analysis of 2 RCTs using double-blind method showed that, iguratimod was superior to methotrexat in the patient (MD=4.11, 95%CI 0.11 to 8.10, P=0.04) and physician (MD=4.81, 95%CI 0.93 to 8.69, P=0.01) global assessment of disease activities.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that the efficacy and safety of iguratimod in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are similar to methotrexate. And iguratimod is superior in global assessment of disease activities by patients and doctors. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify above conclusions.
ObjectiveTo observe the efficacy of low-dose methylprednisolone combined with hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MethodsBetween January 2011 and May 2013, 60 RA patients on their first treatment with a disease course of less than or equal to 2 years were randomly divided to control group and treatment group Ⅰ with 30 patients in each. Patients in both the two groups were given hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate therapy, while the control group was treated with meloxicam (7.5 mg/time, 2 times/d) in addition, and the treatment group one was given methylprednisolone (4 mg/time, 2 times/d) in addition. Another 30 RA patients with a disease course of more than 5 years with no standardized treatment were designated into the treatment group Ⅱ. They accepted the same treatment scheme as treatment group Ⅰ. All the patients were evaluated one week after treatment to assess their clinical symptoms. Twelve weeks before and after treatment, the patients were evaluated on their clinical indicators and immunological indicators. ResultsThe clinical symptoms of patients in treatment group Ⅰ and Ⅱ were rapidly relieved within one week after treatment, and the curative effect was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Twelve weeks after treatment, the treatment groups were significantly improved compared with the control group in clinical symptoms and DSA28 (P<0.05). The improvement of clinical symptoms and immunological tests in treatment group Ⅰ was more obvious than that in treatment groupⅡ. ConclusionLow-dose methylprednisolone combined with hydroxyl chloroquine and methotrexate can quickly and effectively relieve the clinical symptoms of the patients with RA, and patients with a shorter course of the disease have better clinical efficacy.
Primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) is one of the most common type of primary intraocular lymphoma. The current treatment options include local ocular radiotherapy (radiotherapy), systemic chemotherapy (chemotherapy), local ocular chemotherapy, and combination therapy. The treatment options are different at different stages of PVRL, however, there is no uniform treatment guideline. Local ocular chemotherapy can make the drug reach effective therapeutic concentration in the eye, and it can be repeated many times. At the same time, it can avoid the adverse reactions caused by systemic medication or radiotherapy. It is an ideal choice for relieving ocular symptoms. At present, the mainstream ocular local chemotherapeutics are methotrexate (MTX) and rituximab (RTX). The basic consensus about the intravitreal injection of MTX (IVM) is the induction-consolidation-maintenance model, however, the time of each stage and frequency of IVM are diverse. The time interval of intravitreal injection of RTX is also variable, ranging from 1 time/week to 1 time/months and so on. Corneal epithelial lesions caused by frequent MTX injections and the higher recurrence rate after RTX treatment are the main reasons for changing the treatment plan. For patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma and PVRL, combined treatment with neurology department is necessary to save patient's lives, ophthalmology treatment relieves ocular symptoms and improves the patient's quality of life. For patients with PVRL alone without central nervous system involvement, ophthalmology treatment is necessary to control patient's eye symptoms, and close follow-up should be followed to find the involvement of the central nervous system in time, and then combined with neurological treatment to save patient’s lives.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of the intravitreal methotrexate treatment in patients with primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL). MethodsRetrospective non-comparative interventional case series. Fourteen patients (26 eyes) with biopsy-proven PVRL were included in the study. All patients received examination of Snellen chart visual acuity, fundus color photography and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Among the 24 eyes with recordable visual acuity, 17 eyes has initial visual acuity≥0.1 (0.45±0.20) and 7 eyes with initial visual acuity ranged from light perception to hand movement. The vitreous opacities and (or) subretinal yellowish-white lesions and retinal pigment epitheliumuplift were observed in all eyes. All eyes were treated with intravitreal methotrexate (4000 μg/ml, 0.1 ml) injections according to a induction-consolidation-maintenance regimen. For 26 treated eyes, each received an average of (11.5±6.3) injections. Twenty eyes had finished theintraocular chemotherapy, while 6 eyes had not. Eight of 20 eyes were clinically confirmed free of tumor cells by diagnostic vitrectomy, 12 eyes were still with tumor cell involvement.The follow-up was ranged from 2 to 48 months, the mean time was 18 months. The examination of BCVA, fundus color photography and OCT were performed. No tumor cell was defined as clinical remission. Visual acuity was scored as improved or declined obviously (improved or declined 2 lines) or mild improved or declined (changed within 2 lines). ResultsTwenty eyes achieved clinical remission after (3.5±3.6) injections, 12 eyes of 20 eyes with tumor cell involvement before chemotherapy achieved clinical remission after (5.8±3.0) injections. The mean visual acuity of seventeen eyes with initial visual acuity 0.1 in induction phase and at the end of treatment were 0.36±0.23 and 0.56±0.20, respectively. Compared with before treatment, the visual acuity was mild declined in induction phase (t=1.541, P>0.05), but mild improved at the end of treatment (t=2.639, P<0.05). The visual acuity at the end of treatment in 7 eyes with initial visual acuity<0.1 was ranged from no light perception to 0.1. Of 14 patients, 2 patients have been fatal because of brain lesions progression at 42 and 48 months after diagnosis of primary central nervous system lymphoma. No ocular recurrence was noted during the follow-up in 20 eyes who finished intraocular chemotherapy. ConclusionsPVRL patients can achieve clinical remission after (3.5±3.6) injections by intravitreal chemotherapy of methotrexate, and the visual acuity improved mildly. No ocular recurrence was found during follow-up.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Leflunomide (LEF) in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), so as to provide scientific proof for applying LEF in China. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the effect of LEF on patients with RA from January 1989 to January 2011 were searched from the following databases, CNKI, WanFang Data, MEDLINE, EMbase and CBM. After two reviewers independently screened the studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data and assessed the quality, the data were analyzed by RevMan 5.0 software. Results Among 3247 patients in 16 included RCTs, 1711 patients were in the LEF group, while the other 1536 patients were in the Methotrexate (MXT) group. The results of meta-analyses showed there was no significant difference in the efficacy between LEF and MXT (RR=1.03, 95%CI 0.94 to 1.11, Pgt;0.05), but a significant difference was found in the side reaction (RR=0.67, 95%CI 0.49 to 0.94, Plt;0.05). Conclusion Based on the current studies, Leflunomide is as effective as the commonly-used Methotrexate in the treatment of rheumatiod arthritis at present, much safer than Methotrexate, and thought as a safe and effective SAARD. For the quality restrictions of the included studies, more double blind RCTs with high quality are required to further assess the effects.