Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases

The objective of this case series is to describe the efficacy and safety of baricitinib (BARI) in a group of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and/or giant cell arteritis (GCA). These patients were treated with BARI due to either a refractory disease course or the unavailability of tociliz...

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Main Authors: D. Camellino, C. Dejaco, F. Martini, R. Cosso, G. Bianchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PAGEPress Publications 2024-10-01
Series:Reumatismo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.reumatismo.org/reuma/article/view/1796
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author D. Camellino
C. Dejaco
F. Martini
R. Cosso
G. Bianchi
author_facet D. Camellino
C. Dejaco
F. Martini
R. Cosso
G. Bianchi
author_sort D. Camellino
collection DOAJ
description The objective of this case series is to describe the efficacy and safety of baricitinib (BARI) in a group of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and/or giant cell arteritis (GCA). These patients were treated with BARI due to either a refractory disease course or the unavailability of tocilizumab because of the pandemic. A total of six patients (five females and one male, median age 64 years, range 50-83) were treated with BARI. Two of them had isolated PMR, two had PMR with associated large vessel (LV)-GCA, one had LV-GCA presenting as fever of unknown origin, and one had cranial-GCA. All patients reported improvement with BARI. At the time of starting BARI, patients were taking a median prednisone dose of 8.75 mg/day (range 0-25), and the four patients with PMR had a median PMR-AS of 23.3 (indicating high disease activity), which decreased to 1.58 after 6 months of treatment with BARI. Two of them could stop glucocorticoids (GC) and continued BARI monotherapy. One patient suffered from pneumonia, and BARI was therefore stopped. No other adverse events attributable to BARI were detected. Our case series supports previous reports suggesting efficacy of Janus kinase inhibitors as a GC-sparing strategy in PMR and GCA.
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publishDate 2024-10-01
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spelling doaj-art-0d8e4c9704c74da2a559a1fb67b562fe2025-08-20T02:12:10ZengPAGEPress PublicationsReumatismo0048-74492240-26832024-10-0110.4081/reumatismo.2024.1796Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six casesD. Camellino0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6384-6458C. Dejaco1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-0668F. Martini2R. Cosso3G. Bianchi4Division of Rheumatology, “La Colletta” Hospital, Azienda Sociosanitaria Ligure 3, ArenzanoDepartment of Rheumatology, Medical University of Graz, Austria; Department of Rheumatology, Hospital of BruneckMedical Department, Azienda Sanitaria Locale 1, SanremoMedical Department, Azienda Sanitaria Locale 3, GenoaDivision of Rheumatology, “La Colletta” Hospital, Azienda Sociosanitaria Ligure 3, Arenzano The objective of this case series is to describe the efficacy and safety of baricitinib (BARI) in a group of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and/or giant cell arteritis (GCA). These patients were treated with BARI due to either a refractory disease course or the unavailability of tocilizumab because of the pandemic. A total of six patients (five females and one male, median age 64 years, range 50-83) were treated with BARI. Two of them had isolated PMR, two had PMR with associated large vessel (LV)-GCA, one had LV-GCA presenting as fever of unknown origin, and one had cranial-GCA. All patients reported improvement with BARI. At the time of starting BARI, patients were taking a median prednisone dose of 8.75 mg/day (range 0-25), and the four patients with PMR had a median PMR-AS of 23.3 (indicating high disease activity), which decreased to 1.58 after 6 months of treatment with BARI. Two of them could stop glucocorticoids (GC) and continued BARI monotherapy. One patient suffered from pneumonia, and BARI was therefore stopped. No other adverse events attributable to BARI were detected. Our case series supports previous reports suggesting efficacy of Janus kinase inhibitors as a GC-sparing strategy in PMR and GCA. https://www.reumatismo.org/reuma/article/view/1796Polymyalgia rheumaticagiant cell arteritislarge vessel vasculitisJAK-inhibitorspositron emission tomography
spellingShingle D. Camellino
C. Dejaco
F. Martini
R. Cosso
G. Bianchi
Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases
Reumatismo
Polymyalgia rheumatica
giant cell arteritis
large vessel vasculitis
JAK-inhibitors
positron emission tomography
title Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases
title_full Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases
title_fullStr Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases
title_full_unstemmed Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases
title_short Baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis: report of six cases
title_sort baricitinib in polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis report of six cases
topic Polymyalgia rheumatica
giant cell arteritis
large vessel vasculitis
JAK-inhibitors
positron emission tomography
url https://www.reumatismo.org/reuma/article/view/1796
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