The use of penicillamine in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma.

The use of penicillamine in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and scheroderma is reviewed. Much of the worlds literature was collected including both open studies and control studies. Both types with over 1,300 patients in the open trials and as one would expect, a smaller group in the control trials, showed about 64 percent of the patients having good results. Side effects range from one quarter to one third of the treated patients. This seems to show penicillamine as an effective drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis though with a multiplicity of side effects. Its use in the treatment of scleroderma is still uncertain. Because of the rarity of the disease the number of patients treated has been small and the data is conflicting.