Postmarketing surveillance of the safety and effectiveness of abatacept in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To perform a postmarketing surveillance study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of abatacept in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Safety and effectiveness data were collected for all RA patients (at 772 sites) treated with intravenous abatacept between September 2010 and June 2011. Patients were treated by the approved dosing regimen according to the package insert.