Hydroxychloroquine Is Safe and Probably Useful in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Edward D. Harris
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1993)

Editorials1 December 1993Hydroxychloroquine Is Safe and Probably Useful in Rheumatoid ArthritisEdward D. Harris, MDEdward D. Harris, MDStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-119-11-199312010-00014 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The history of antimalarial drug therapy in rheumatoid arthritis has several distinct phases. The first was a fairly widespread enthusiasm for the drugs [1]. For example, Freedman and Steinberg [2] reported a definite general improvement in 85 of 107 (80%) patients who completed 1 year of chloroquine treatment, compared with 30% of the placebo group. Whereas 25% of the control patients were clinically deteriorating, only 5% of the patients treated with chloroquine lost ground during the study. This enthusiasm was fueled by the disillusionment in the 1950s with corticosteroids as a primary therapy because of the destructive toxicity of prednisone ...References1. Rynes RI. Antimalarial drugs. In: Kelley WN, Harris ED Jr, Ruddy S, Sledge CB, eds. Textbook of Rheumatology. Fourth Edition. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1993: 731-42. Google Scholar2. Freedman A, Steinberg VL. Chloroquine in rheumatoid arthritis: a double-blindfold trial of treatment for one year. Ann Intern Med. 1960; 19:243-8. Google Scholar3. Hobbes HE, Sorsby A, Freedman A. Retinopathy following chloroquine therapy. Lancet. 1959; 2:478-80. Google Scholar4. Bernstein HN. Ocular safety of hydroxychloroquine. Ann Ophthalmol. 1991; 23:292-5. Google Scholar5. Clark P, Casas E, Tugwell P, Medina C, Gheno C, Tenorio G, et al. Hydroxychloroquine compared with placebo in rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 1993; 119:1067-71. Google Scholar6. Felson DT, Anderson JJ, Meenan RF. Use of short-term efficacy/toxicity tradeoffs to select second-line drugs in rheumatoid arthritis: a meta-analysis of published clinical trials. Arthritis Rheum. 1992; 35:1117-25. Google Scholar7. Harris ED Jr. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In: Kelley WN, Harris ED Jr, Ruddy S, Sledge CB, eds. Textbook of Rheumatology. Fourth Edition. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1993:912-23. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305.Corresponding Author: Edward D. Harris, Jr., MD, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Room S-102, Stanford, CA 94305-5109. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoHydroxychloroquine Compared with Placebo in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patricia Clark , Emilio Casas , Peter Tugwell , Clementina Medina , Constanza Gheno , Guadalupe Tenorio , and Jose Antonio Orozco Metrics Cited byMEDICAL ASPECTS OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITISA randomized trial of hydroxychloroquine in early rheumatoid arthritis: The HERA study 1 December 1993Volume 119, Issue 11Page: 1146-1147KeywordsAntimalarialsChloroquineDrug pricesDrug therapyDrugsHydroxychloroquineRetinopathyRheumatoid arthritisSaltsToxicity Issue Published: 1 December 1993 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 1993 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...