Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về y học được đăng trên tạp chí y học General Psychiatry cung cấp cho các bạn kiến thức về ngành y đề tài: The need for prognosticators in rheumatoid arthritis. Biological and clinical markers: where are we now? | Available online http content 10 3 208 Review The need for prognosticators in rheumatoid arthritis. Biological and clinical markers where are we now Josef S Smolen1 2 Daniel Aletaha1 Johannes Grisar1 Kurt Redlich1 Gunter Steiner1 and Oswald Wagner3 1 Division of Rheumatology Department of Internal Medicine III Medical University of Vienna Waehringer Guertel 18-20 A-1090 Vienna Austria 22nd Department of Medicine Hietzing Hospital Wolkersbergenstrasse 1 A-1130 Vienna Austria 3Department of Laboratory Medicine Medical University of Vienna Waehringer Guertel 18-20 A-1090 Vienna Austria Corresponding author Josef S Smolen Published 29 May 2008 This article is online at http content 10 3 208 2008 BioMed Central Ltd Arthritis Research Therapy 2008 10 208 doi ar2418 Abstract Rheumatoid arthritis is a heterogeneous disease with respect to clinical manifestations serologic abnormalities joint damage and functional impairment. Predicting outcome in a reliable way to allow for strategic therapeutic decision-making as well as for prediction of the response to the various therapeutic modalities available today especially biological agents would provide means for optimization of care. In the present article the current information on biological and clinical markers related to disease activity and joint damage as well as for predictive purposes is reviewed. It will be shown that the relationship of many biomarkers with disease characteristics is confounded by factors unrelated to the disease and that only few biomarkers exist with some predictive value. Moreover clinical markers appear of equal value as biomarkers for this purpose although they likewise have limited capacity in these regards. The analysis suggests the search for better markers to predict outcomes and therapeutic responsiveness in rheumatoid arthritis needs to be intensified. Introduction setting the stage Rheumatoid arthritis RA .
