Outcome of attempts to treat rheumatoid arthritis with gold, penicillamine, sulphasalazine, or dapsone.

The outcome of attempts to continue treatment indefinitely with either gold, penicillamine, sulphasalazine, or dapsone was studied in 240 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The usual reason for discontinuing treatment was the occurrence of an adverse effect. This led to 53% of patients stopping gold, 33% sulphasalazine, 32% penicillamine, and 17% dapsone. The next most frequent reason was that the drug was ineffective, leading to discontinuation in 37% of patients having dapsone, 24% sulphasalazine, 19% penicillamine, and 16% gold. Other reasons for stopping treatment were infrequent. The high discontinuation rate of these drugs over 2 years in part accounts for the conflict of opinion on whether they can alter the course of RA; their efficacy must to a large extent be governed by their acceptability.