Understanding emerging treatment paradigms in rheumatoid arthritis

Table 1 Criteria for identifying the rapidly progressing rheumatoid arthritis patient [5, 18–20]

Clinical evidence	Subclinical evidence
Early age of onset	Evidence of erosion on radiograph or MRI (van der Heijde–Sharp score ≥2.6)
Failed two DMARDs in 6 months	Elevated CRP level (≥0.6 mg/dl)
≥4 swollen joints	Elevated ESR (28 mm/hour)
Elevated DAS score (≥4.2)
Health Assessment Questionnaire raw score >4

CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS, disease activity score; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging. Reproduced with permission from Oxford University Press.

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