Prolonged treatment with azapropazone.

In an open study of 40 patients with chronic rheumatoid polyarthritis, azapropazone was given alone in daily doses between 1200 mg. and 1800 mg. over a period of 6 months. Six patients were withdrawn, 2 because of side-effects (1 with an allergic-type rash; 1 with ankle oedema) and 4 because azapropazone alone did not provide adequate control of their pain and discomfort. Objective assessments showed that 18 patients had a 'good' or 'very good' response to treatment, and a further 16 showed moderate improvement. These findings were supported by the patients' subjective assessment of the change in their condition from the start of the trial. In addition, 22 patients showed a significant decrease in erythrocyte sedimentation rate. There was no evidence of adverse effects on any of the haematological and biochemical parameters measured, and the incidence of side-effects was low.