[Comparative clinical study of tiaprofenic acid and lysine acetylsalicylate in aged osteoarthrosis patients]. / Studio clinico di confronto tra acido tiaprofenico e acetilsalicilato di lisina in pazienti anziani osteoartrosici.

Thirty elderly patients (mean age 74) with osteoarthritis effecting various joints were treated with an oral suspension of either tiaprofenic acid (TA) (600 mg per diem b.i.d.) or lysine acetyl salicylate (1800 mg per diem b.i.d.) for 3-6 months in an open randomized experimental study. The parameters of efficacy assessed were pain at rest and under load, stiffness, ability to perform a pre-selected daily exercise and joint movements hampered by the disease. Blood flow, liver and kidney function and side effects were examined on a monthly basis. The tiaprofenic acid proved more effective in reducing pain and aiding functional recovery and was also better tolerated, especially at gastrointestinal level. Nine patients under lysine acetyl salicylate and 2 under tiaprofenic acid were forced to suspend treatment due to pyrosis, epigastralgia ed dyspepsia.

Double-blind placebo-controlled study of the efficacy and tolerability of suprofen suppositories in patients with osteoarthritic pain.

In a placebo-controlled double-blind trial analgesic effectiveness and tolerability of alpha-methyl-4-(2-thienyl-carbonyl)phenylacetic acid (suprofen, Suprol) 300 mg suppositories were evaluated for 45 informed patients suffering from chronic pain due to osteoarthritis; the subjects were treated rectally, t.i.d., for 10 days. Suprofen proved to be statistically significantly superior to placebo in all the variables considered for evaluation of the analgesic effect, i.e., pain intensity and relief scores, sum of pain intensity differences (SPID), total pain relief (TOTPAR), global assessments by investigator and patient. In particular, the efficacy of suprofen was judged by the physician good or very good in 86.3% of the patients. Similar frequencies of rectal side-effects were observed in both treatment groups, with slightly but not significantly higher incidence in the group treated with suprofen. Haematologic and clinical chemistry laboratory tests showed no statistically significant alterations due to the treatment.

Steroid-sparing action of flurbiprofen and indomethacin in rheumatoid arthritis: a nine-week study.

Thirty out-patients with rheumatoid arthritis aged from 3 yrs. (+/- 0.5 SEM) were included in a between-patient controlled trial comparing effectiveness and safety of flurbiprofen 300 mg daily and indomethacin 150 mg daily. The duration of the treatment was nine weeks. Both drugs allowed to reduce the initial dose of corticosteroids administered (-21% on flurbiprofen and -12% on indomethacin) and were effective in improving clinical signs of the disease such as number of swollen joints, grip strength, articular index and morning stiffness. Flurbiprofen was better tolerated (p less than 0.01).

Safety and efficacy of feprazone for long-term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Long-term safety and efficacy of feprazone (4-prenyl-1,2-diphenyl-3,5-pyrazolidinedione), an antirheumatic drug that is well tolerated in the gastrointestinal tract, were assessed in a noncontrolled multicenter trial. Administered at a daily dosage of 600 mg for a mean duration of 114.1 days, feprazone was well tolerated by 43 (77%) of 56 treated subjects. Thirteen patients reported side effects, but only five discontinued treatment. The side effects were generally mild and occurred in the first weeks of therapy. Feprazone was found effective after one month on both considered indices of disease activity: Ritchie index (articular index for assessment of joint tenderness) and corticosteroid consumption.

Spondylodiscitis and ankylosing spondylitis: HLA typing and nosological implications.

Nine cases from among 64 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are described. In addition to bilateral sacroiliitis these cases had a peculiar type of spondylodiscitis characterised by quite diffuse and marked sclerosis of multiple vertebral bodies, with only minimal erosions of the adjacent vertebral plates while classical syndesmophytosis was absent. The antigen HLA-B27 was found only in 1 of these 9 cases. This type of spondylodiscitis could discriminate among all the patients with AS a subgroup with a peculiar clinical pattern and a probably distinctive pathological mechanism.