TICOPA Study: Tight Control in Psoriatic Arthritis Save

Tight control in rheumatoid arthritis was introduced with the TICORA trial and validated in numerous treat-to-target studies since. Now the benefits of tight control in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have been reported.

Coats et has completed an open-label randomised trial in 206 adultswith early PsA (<24 months symptom duration), who were DMARD naive. They were randomly assigned to either tight control (with review every 4 weeks and with escalation of treatment if minimal disease activity criteria not met) or standard care (standard therapy according to the treating clinician, with review every 12 weeks) for 48 weeks. In the intention-to-treat patient population, the odds of achieving an ACR20 response was higher in the tight control group than in the standard care group (odds ratio 1·91, 95% CI 1·03–3·55; p=0·0392). Serious adverse events were reported in 10% of the tight control group and 6% in the standard care group, Not surprisingly, tight control and a treat-to-target approach significantly improves joint outcomes in early PsA.