Fig. 2.

Changes in Disease Activity Score (DAS) values over time during the tapering and discontinuation of biologic treatment in synovial hypertrophy–positive (SH+)/power Doppler–negative (PD−) patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Forty-two SH+/PD− patients with RA were tapered on anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α therapy for 3 months. Among them, 29 SH+/PD− patients with RA (69.1 %) maintained disease remission 3 months after anti-TNF-α tapering. All SH+/PD− patients still in disease remission after anti-TNF-α tapering discontinued anti-TNF-α treatment and were followed every 3 months afterwards. Among them, 26 (89.7 %) maintained disease remission for 6 months, whereas 3 (10.3 %) had disease relapse within 6 months. Among patients with RA who completed the 12-month follow-up, 16 SH+/PD− patients (38.1 %) had a chance of disease relapse after anti-TNF-α tapering and discontinuation. US ultrasonography