Aiming for Remission in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - the ARCTIC Trial

Summary

The ultimate goal of treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is remission, i.e. an absence of signs and symptoms of the disease. However, the optimal way of reaching this goal is not known.

Ultrasonography (US) is an imaging modality which application is rapidly growing. It has a number of advantages over other advanced imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including low cost, good accessibility, and ability to scan many joints in a short period of time. However, the additional benefit of using this modality in terms of patient outcomes has not been demonstrated. Thus, clarification is needed if the use of US leads to better care for RA patients.

This study will assess if the use of a treatment strategy incorporating information from ultrasonography assessment will allow for better outcomes of patients with RA, than a strategy based on clinical and laboratory assessments alone.

Conditions

• Rheumatoid Arthritis

Interventions

DEVICE

Ultrasonography

Standardized ultrasonographic assessment of 32 joints, assessed for both grey scale synovitis and power doppler signal, at each visit. Dose escalations based on DAS response in combination with change in US score. All joints with US Power Doppler signal are targets for intra articular injections.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Research Council of Norway

  collaborator OTHER

• Smerud Medical Research International AS

  collaborator OTHER

• Oslo University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Innovest

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Abbott

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• UCB Nordic A/S

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Pfizer

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• MSD Norway AS

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Roche Pharma AG

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• The Norwegian Rheumatism Association

  collaborator OTHER

• Espen A. Haavardsholm

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Tore K Kvien, MD, PhD · Diakonhjemmet Hospital AS

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-09-30

Primary Completion

2015-04-30

Completion

2015-04-30

Countries

• Norway

Study Locations