Treatments Against RA and Effect on FDG-PET/CT

Exclusion Criteria

• •Use of biologic DMARD within the past 6 months or use of rituximab ever
• •Current use of \>10mg per day of prednisone
• •Use of a high-intensity statin lipid lowering drug or PCSK9 inhibitor in the past 12 months
• •Prior patient reported, physician diagnosed clinical cardiovascular (CV) event
• •Insulin-dependent or uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM)
• •Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or other autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases (i.e. inflammatory bowel disease, sarcoidosis)
• •Cancer treated in the last 5 years (except basal and squamous cell) or any lymphoma or melanoma
• •Known pregnancy, HIV, Hepatitis B Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, active (or untreated latent) tuberculosis
• •Baseline: liver, renal or blood count abnormalities, Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency
• •Known sulfa allergy, macular disease or hypersensitivity to treatments; known demyelinating disease; uncompensated Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
• •Intra-articular injection within the 4 weeks prior to baseline FDG PET/CT
• •2 or more high dose radiation scans in the past year (CT scan with contrast, angiogram, SPECT nuclear medicine scan, myocardial/cardiac perfusion scan)