[The efficacy of basic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis with methotrexate].

Overall 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis received methotrexate as basic therapy in a weekly dose of 7.5 mg. The patients were followed up for a year. The control examinations were carried out every three months. The therapeutic effect was evaluated from the dynamics of 10 clinical and laboratory parameters. The efficacy of methotrexate treatment provided for a year turned out as follows: significant improvement was attained in 11 patients, improvement was recorded in 9; no changes were demonstrated by 5 patients. Thus, the positive effect was attained in 20 patients (80%). A clinical remission was recorded in 4 patients. Small doses of methotrexate were tolerated well. During one year, the drug was discontinued in none of the patients. Mild side effects were noticed in 11 patients. The temporary drug withdrawal made it possible to continue treating those patients. The majority of the humoral immunity tests showed positive dynamics. As for the titers of rheumatoid factors, such regularity could not be traced.