Table 1 Patients’ characteristics at initiation of tocilizumab and during follow-up
At initiation of tocilizumab N = 13 | At 1 month N = 13 | At 2 months N = 13 | At 3 months N = 13 | At 4 months N = 12 | At 5 months N = 13 | At 6 months N = 13 | At 9 months N = 13 | At 12 months N = 12 | At 15 months N = 10 | At 18 months N = 11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vascular manifestations | 13 (100) | 9 (69) | 10 (100) | 8 (62) | 4 (33) | 7 (54) | 7 (54) | 7 (54) | 7 (58) | 4 (40) | 4 (36) |
-Arm claudication | 5 (38) | 3 (23) | 4 (30) | 2 (15) | 2 (15) | 4 (30) | 3 (23) | 4 (30) | 2 (17) | 2 (20) | 2 (18) |
-Lower limb claudication | 3 (23) | 1 (8) | 0 | 1 (8) | 0 | 0 | 1 (8) | 2 (15) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-Anisotension | 7 (54) | 7 (54) | 8 (62) | 4 (30) | 3 (23) | 5 (38) | 4 (30) | 4 (30) | 5 (42) | 3 (30) | 3 (27) |
-Carotidynia | 9 (69) | 1 (8) | 3 (23) | 1 (8) | 0 | 2 (15) | 3 (23) | 3 (23) | 3 (23) | 2 (20) | 1 (9) |
Constitutional manifestations | 5 (38) | 2 (15) | 3 (23) | 1 (8) | 2 (17) | 2 (15) | 4 (33) | 1 (8) | 1 (8) | 2 (20) | 0 |
-Arthromyalgias | 3 (23) | 0 | 1 (8) | 1 (8) | 0 | 1 (8) | 2 (15) | 4 (31) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-Fever/asthenia | 3 (23) | 2 (15) | 1 (8) | 1 (8) | 2 (15) | 2 (15) | 4 (31) | 1 (8) | 1 (8) | 1 (8) | 0 |
NIH score | 3 [3–4] | – | – | 1 [0–2] | – | – | 1 [0–2] | 1 [0–3] | 1 [0–4] | 1 [0–3] | |
ITAS 2010/ITAS-A | 5 [2–7]/7 [4–10] | – | – | 2 [0–5]/2 [0–5] | – | – | 3 [0–8]/4 [1–15] | 3 [0–8]/4 [0–11] | 2 [0–4]/2.5 [0–34] | 1 [0–7]/3 [0–9] | |
Subjective disease activity by practitioner | |||||||||||
-Remission | – | 5 (38) | 5 (38) | 7 (54) | 7 (54) | 9 (69) | 8 (62) | 7 (54) | 7 (58) | 6 (60) | 7 (64) |
-Active | 13 (100) | 0 | 0 | 1 (8) | 0 | 2 (15) | 2 (15) | 3 (23) | 2 (16) | 4 (40) | 4 (36) |
-Stable | – | 7 (54) | 7 (54) | 5 (38) | 6 (50) | 2 (15) | 2 (15) | 3 (23) | 3 (25) | 0 | 0 |
C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 16 [3–98] | 1 [0–14] | 1 [0–10] | 0 [0–2] | 1 [0–17] | 1 [0–17] | 1 [0–12] | 4 [0–53] | 3 [0–28] | 10 [0–42] | 14 [0–45] |
Fibrinogen (g/l) | 5 [2.8–8] | 2 [1–5] | 2 [2–6] | 2 [0–4.5] | 2 [1.5–5] | 2 [1.5–5] | 2 [1–3] | 3 [2–7] | 3 [1–5] | 4 [2–7] | 5 [2–6] |
Prednisone (n; %) | 13 (100) | 13 (100) | 13 (100) | 13 (100) | 12 (100) | 13 (100) | 7 (54) | 7 (54) | 6 (50) | 7 (70) | 7 (64) |
Prednisone (mg/day) | 45 [35–65] | 25 [15–40] | 20 [15–30] | 10 [10–25] | 7.5 [5–17.5] | 5 [2.5–30] | 5 [0–10] | 3 [0–30] | 2.5 [0–15] | 3.5 [0–10] | 3 [0–10] |
Immunosuppressive drugs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MTX (n = 2) /Ada (n = 1)/Inf (n = 1) | MTX (n = 2)/Ada (n = 1)/Inf (n = 1)/Toci (n = 1) | MTX (n = 2)/MTX+ Ada (n = 1)/MTX+ Inf (n = 1)/Toci (n = 2) | MTX + Ada (n = 2) /Uste (n = 1)/MTX + Toci (n = 1)/Toci (n = 2)/Aza (n = 1) |
NIH < 2 | |||||||||||
+prednisone < 7.5 mg/day | – | – | – | – | – | – | 9 (69) | 7 (54) | 6 (50) | 9 (90%) | 4 (36) |
< 10 mg/day | 11 (85) | 9 (69) | 9 (75) | 10 (100) | 6 (55) | ||||||