Abstract: Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effect of immunoadsorption therapy for refractory rheumatoid arthritis. Methods Clinical data of 120 patients with refractory rheumatoid arthritis and treated with immunoadsorption therapy in the Department of Rheumatology, Shanghai Guanghua Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital from Oct. 2014 to Dec. 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Results In the 120 patients, the inflammation indicator erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) decreased from (78.23±50.65)mm/h before treatment to (3.03±2.06) mm/h after treatment and (12.01±9.12) mm/h after the treatment for 3 months (t=0.394, P= 0.002, comparison of ESR values before treatment and after treatment). C reaction protein (CRP) decreased from (58.93±45.21)mg/l before treatment to (8.20± 3.04)mg/l after treatment and (18.01±12.11)mg/l after the treatment for 3 months (t=0.067, P=0.003, comparison of CRP values before treatment and after treatment). Rheumatoid factor decreased from (350.07±177.28) IU/ml before treatment to (103.22±82.06)IU/ml after treatment and (230.12±145.52) IU/ml after the treatment for 3 months (t=0.033, P=0.048, comparison of rheumatoid factor values before treatment and after treatment). All the 120 patients achieved ACR50 or ACR 70 after immunoadsorption therapy for 2 weeks. One of the 120 patients experienced pancreatitis, 5 had acute episode of chronic cholecystitis, and 10 had hypoalbuminemia; all of these adverse reactions improved after treatment and no serious adverse reactions happened in the observation period. Conclusion Immunoadsorption therapy provides a new and effective therapeutic approach with quite better safety for refractory rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Key words: Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Immunoadsorption, Treatment outcome