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Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1992 Dec;51(12):1330–1331. doi: 10.1136/ard.51.12.1330

Methotrexate treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: is a fortnightly maintenance schedule enough?

M Tishler 1, D Caspi 1, M Yaron 1
PMCID: PMC1004930  PMID: 1485816

Abstract

In 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were in clinical remission the weekly regimen of methotrexate treatment was changed to fortnightly without a change in dose. A total of 13 patients completed a 12 month trial. No change in clinical or laboratory parameters occurred. There was no change in the use of analgesics or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the patients remained in remission. Two patients had to be withdrawn after two and four months respectively because of a flare in disease activity. It is suggested that in most patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are treated with methotrexate and whose disease activity is stable a fortnightly regimen can be permitted without affecting drug efficacy.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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