Modern treatment approach results in low disease activity in 90% of pregnant rheumatoid arthritis patients: the PreCARA study

OBJECTIVES: In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), high disease activity impairs fertility outcomes and increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of a modern treatment approach, including treat-to-target (T2T) and the prescription of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, in patients with RA with a wish to conceive or who are pregnant. METHODS: Patients were derived from the Preconception Counseling in Active RA (PreCARA) cohort. Patients with a wish to conceive or who are pregnant were treated according to a modified T2T approach, in which the obvious restrictions of pregnancy were taken into account. Results of the PreCARA study were compared with results of the Pregnancy-induced Amelioration of Rheumatoid Arthritis (PARA) study, a historic reference cohort on RA during pregnancy. Patients in the PARA cohort were treated according to the standards of that time (2002–2010). Differences in disease activity over time between the two cohorts were tested using a linear mixed model. RESULTS: 309 patients with RA were included in the PreCARA study, 188 children were born. 47.3% of the patients used a TNF inhibitor at any time during pregnancy. Mean disease activity over time in the PreCARA cohort was lower than in the reference cohort (p<0.001). In the PreCARA cohort, 75.4% of the patients were in low disease activity (LDA) or remission before pregnancy increasing to 90.4% in the third trimester, whereas in the PARA cohort, these percentages were 33.2% and 47.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This first study on a modern treatment approach in pregnant patients with RA shows that LDA and remission are an attainable goal during pregnancy, with 90.4% of patients achieving this in the third trimester.