The place of glucocorticoids in modern rheumatoid arthritis treatment strategies

Garmish O.O.

• ГУ «ННЦ Институт кардиологии им. Н.Д. Стражеско» НАМН Украины», Киев

Summary. The article provides an overview of randomized clinical trials, as well as European and Ameri­can recommendations on the clinical use of glucocorticoids in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The effectiveness of the use of various drugs, doses and routes of administration of glucocorticoids in combination with synthetic and bio­logical disease-modifying agents in achieving remission in early rheumatoid arthritis is considered. Effective and rational use of glucocorticoids in the debut of heumatoid arthritis according to the presented studies allowed in most cases to avoid their «chro­nic» use later, to increase the effectiveness of methotrexate monotherapy and even to eliminate biological agents due to the development of stable remission in the absence of radiological progression and increased frequency of side effects.