Inclusion of fibrinoid necrosis increases the accuracy of synovial tissue assessment in predicting response to methotrexate: analysis of the UCLouvain Brussels ERA Cohort.

Objective: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) often exhibits suboptimal treatment response despite early diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to analyze Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (ERA) synovial biopsies through histology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to identify predictive factors for treatment response to Methotrexate (MTX).

Methods: 140 ERA patients from the UCLouvain Arthritis Cohort underwent synovial biopsy and were monitored after initiating Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drug (DMARD) therapy.

Analysis of synovitis patterns in early RA supports the importance of joint-specific factors.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is classically considered a systemic disorder, but the role of local factors in driving synovial inflammation is increasingly being recognized. These joint-specific factors may consequently modulate disease phenotype.

Objectives: Our goal was to study the spatial distribution of swelling, tenderness and erosions in a large cohort of early RA (ERA) patients, to assess for patterns of simultaneously-involved joint clusters.

Should We Use bDMARDs as an Induction Therapy in Early and Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis? Results at 5 years from the ERA UCLouvain Brussels Cohort.

Introduction: This study sought to analyze the benefit of an early induction therapy with a biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARD) during the first year of treatment with a 5-year follow-up in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA).

Methods: We included ERA patients from the UCLouvain Brussels cohort who met the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2010 classification criteria and were naïve to DMARDs. ERA patients were divided into two groups according to whether they received an induction bDMARD therapy or a standard therapy with methotrexate (MTX).

Anti-TNF Induced Sarcoidosis-Like Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: Review Cases from the RA UCLouvain Brussels Cohort.

Introduction: Drug-induced sarcoidosis-like disease is a rare side effect of anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The most commonly involved organs in such condition are the lungs, skin, and lymph nodes. The aim of this study is to report the number of cases and the clinical manifestations of sarcoidosis induced by anti-TNF in our RA UCLouvain Brussels cohort.

Should we use glucocorticoids in early rheumatoid arthritis? Results at 5 years from the early RA UCLouvain Brussels cohort.

Objectives: To evaluate the proportion of patients with early RA (ERA) who had or had not initiated glucocorticoids, to analyse the baseline characteristics, and to assess the clinical benefit and side effects of glucocorticoids during 5 years of follow-up.

Methods: We included patients with ERA from the UCLouvain Brussels cohort who met the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria and were naïve to conventional DMARDs (cDMARDs). We retrospectively collected patient characteristics prior to the introduction of cDMARDs with or without glucocorticoids.