The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / ACR and EULAR Debut New RA Classification Criteria in August

ACR and EULAR Debut New RA Classification Criteria in August

August 1, 2010 • By Gretchen Henkel

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

This month, the ACR and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) will release new rheumatoid arthritis (RA) classification criteria. The criteria have been endorsed by both organizations and will be published in the September 2010 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, available online by mid-August.

You Might Also Like
  • New Classification Criteria for SLE: Proposed ACR/EULAR Criteria aim for high sensitivity & specificity
  • ACR, EULAR Approve New Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome
  • The ACR, EULAR Partner to Refine Classification System, Develop New SLE Criteria
Explore This Issue
August 2010
Also By This Author
  • Spring 2020’s Awards, Appointments & Announcements in Rheumatology

The criteria were first presented in a well organized, fast-paced, and densely packed session at the ACR Annual Scientific Meeting in October 2009. There, members of the ACR–EULAR task force premiered the results of the ambitious three-year collaborative effort to develop updated RA classification criteria. Their data- and consensus-driven process has yielded a new approach with an emphasis on identifying patients with a relatively short duration of symptoms who may benefit from early initiation of disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy or entry into clinical trials of promising new agents.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Why New Criteria?

This effort was undertaken to update the ACR RA classification criteria published in 1987. As noted by the authors, the 1987 criteria were derived by discriminating patients with established RA from those with other definite rheumatologic diagnoses; therefore, they are not helpful in identifying patients who would benefit from early intervention. Identifying RA at later stages is easy, remarked Paul Emery, MA, MD, professor of rheumatology and head of the academic section of MSK Disease at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, in his 2009 ACR meeting presentation about the need for new RA criteria. The problem is that classification using the 1987 criteria only occurs after nodules and radiographic changes are apparent. Research in the intervening decades has established that RA is characterized by “an evolving phenotype, and this evolution can actually be interrupted,” he noted. This is the goal of newer RA therapies—preventing patients with RA from reaching a chronic, erosive disease state.

Having uniform criteria to classify patients with early disease facilitates clinical trials that investigate the efficacy of early interventions in preventing later-stage RA. “If our job as rheumatologists is to prevent disease,” Dr. Emery reminded his audience, “then early therapy is essential.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Alan J. Silman, MD, from the Arthritis Research Campaign in Chesterfield, United Kingdom, and a member of the task force, summarized the history of RA classification criteria at the annual meeting session. The 1987 ACR Criteria, following earlier efforts such as the 1956 ARA criteria, 1961 Rome criteria, and 1966 New York criteria, was the first classification to use an analytical approach. The 1987 ACR Criteria “were not designed to work when we most need them,” he said. To address this need, a joint task force of the ACR and EULAR was formed and developed criteria in the phased approach described below. Importantly, the focus of this endeavor was not on developing diagnostic criteria or informing primary care referral.

Phase One: Data Analysis

As the task force began its work, said Dr. Silman, its assignment was to use available data to statistically develop rules that could best differentiate subgroups of patients with newly presenting, undifferentiated inflammatory synovitis at sufficiently high risk of persistent and/or erosive disease from those with lower risk. For ethical reasons, a natural history study would have been out of the question. “Nobody now waits for someone to develop erosive disease before they start DMARD therapy,” he noted.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Rheumatoid Arthritis Tagged With: Classification Criteria, Diagnostic Criteria, Guidelines, RA, Rheumatoid arthritis, TreatmentIssue: August 2010

You Might Also Like:
  • New Classification Criteria for SLE: Proposed ACR/EULAR Criteria aim for high sensitivity & specificity
  • ACR, EULAR Approve New Classification Criteria for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome
  • The ACR, EULAR Partner to Refine Classification System, Develop New SLE Criteria
  • Classification Criteria Improve Management of Sjögren’s

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.