Followup study of chrysotherapy

Maintenance chrysotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison of 2 dose schedules.

“…Four of these patients were men, but whether the disparity of sex distribution has any relevance cannot be determined on the basis of such small numbers. A tendency for some patients to deteriorate after prolonged periods of remission and despite continued chrysotherapy has been previously reported.15 It has been argued that maintenance injections beyond the total of 1 g of gold salts cannot influence the outcome and that improvements gained during a period of weekly injections may persist for variable periods thereafter.3 This is not the conventional view, and the value of maintenance injections has been convincingly demonstrated.5 However, it is disquieting to note the report of Rothermich et al 16 in which it was stated that many patients who initially benefit from gold salts would deteriorate and that only 15% of patients continue with this treatment beyond 4 years. It is clear from our study that a maintenance dose of 50 mg at 2-weekly intervals confers no benefit over 50 mg per month and may enhance the risks of side effects.…”

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Can the Long-Term Outcome Be Altered?

“…23,68 " 72 The duration of response beyond 3 years remains poorly defined; in fact, some studies have shown loss of benefit after 4 to 6 years of therapy. 73 Similarly, auranofin, a relatively new orally administered gold compound, has been demon strated to be beneficial in RA. [74][75][76][77][78] Many studies provide evidence for continued benefit at 24 months.…”

Therapeutic Progress—review Vitreatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…Two reports by Rothermich et ul. (70,71) suggest that they cannot. In a follow-up study of patients given gold, after 5 years only 20 of 97 patients with RA were still taking the drug; full remission had occurred in only two cases, the others had had gold withdrawn due to either toxicity or lack of effect.…”