Characteristics of patients with PMR treated by TCZ
| Author/reference | N | Age (years)/sex | Immunosuppressive agent before starting TCZ | Prednisone-equivalent/day before starting TCZ | TCZ dosage and duration of treatment | Results | Onset of response | Adverse events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macchioni et al22 | 2 | 79, F 87, F | No | No CS (declined by the patients) | 8 mg/kg 2–6 months | 1 responder | 2 months | No |
| Mori and Koga23 | 3 | 55, F 67, F 55, F | MTX=1 (8 mg/week) SLZ=1 | 5–10 mg | 8 mg/kg 2–6 months | Remission | 1 month | No |
| Unizony et al24 | 1 | ND | No | 20 mg | 8 mg/kg ND | Remission | 2–3 months | No |
| Hagihara et al25 | 1 | 65, F | No | 10 mg | 8 mg/kg ND | Remission | 1 month | No |
| Izumi et al26 | 13 | 74 (mean), 11F, 2 M | MTX=7 (mean 8.3±2.1) mg/week | 6 mg | 8 mg/kg 12–96 months | Remission for all | 2 months | 1 infection, 1 thrombocytopaenia, 1 leucopaenia |
| Toussirot et al27 | 7 | 73 (mean) 1F, 6 M | MTX=6 (mean 12.5±1.5) LFM=1, anti-TNF=2 | 20.5 mg | 8 mg/kg 2–22 months | 5 responders | 1–3 months | No |
| Devauchelle-Pensec et al28 | 20 | 66.9 (median) 7 F, 13 H | No | 0 (0.15 mg/kg after 3 months of TCZ) | 8 mg/kg 3 months | 20 responders PMR-AS≤10 at week 12 | 2 months | 3 neutropaenia, 5 leucopaenia |
CS, corticosteroids; F, female; LFM, leflunomide; M, male; MTX, methotrexate; PMR, polymyalgia rheumatica; PMR-AS, polymyalgia rheumatica activity score; SLZ, sulfasalazine; TCZ, tocilizumab.