Real-life drug retention rate and safety of rituximab when treating rheumatic diseases: a single-centre Swiss retrospective cohort study
Authors' conclusion
RTX retention rates are similar for patients with RA and CTD but lower for those with vasculitis due to more frequent remission.
Study context
- Population
- Patients who started rituximab (RTX) in a Swiss rheumatology department for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or auto-immune diseases (AID)
- Participants
- 203 patients665 patient-years
- Exposure
- RTX for RA vs connective tissue diseases (CTD) vs vasculitis
- Outcome
- RTX retention rate (Kaplan-Meier)
- Follow-up
- 2 years
Methodological detailssingle-centre
- Single-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
RTX retention probability
RA
0.65
95% CI 0.55–0.73
CTD
0.60
95% CI 0.47–0.72
Vasculitis
0.25
95% CI 0.09–0.45
P = 0.97
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | RA | CTD | Vasculitis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concomitant GC use | 60% | 75% | 95% |
Deaths during RTX treatment and up to 12 months after last infusion
- Deaths
- 10
- From infection
- 50%
Safety
Moderate to severe hypogammaglobulinaemia
| RA | CTD | Vasculitis | HR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HypogammaglobulinaemiaRisk of first infectious SAE | 13% | 9% | 35% | 2.01 (1.04–3.91) | |
| 0.20.5125Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Serious adverse events (SAE)
- Incidence rate of SAE (SAE/100 patient-years)
- 23.3
- Infectious SAE
- 36%
Anti-drug antibodies (ADA)
- ADA observed when searched (patients)
- 18%
- ADA detected in infusion-related SAE
- 63%
Original publication
Real-life drug retention rate and safety of rituximab when treating rheumatic diseases: a single-centre Swiss retrospective cohort study. Arthritis Res Ther. Published 1 June 2023. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →