Objective: To know the efficacy of the tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonist (TNF-alpha) biological agent, etanercept, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients unsuccessfully treated with infliximab. Method: Retrospective study of RA patients treated previously with infliximab and subsequently with etanercept for at least during 6 months. The study period lasts 29 months from the first to the last patient included. DAS (disease activity score) 28 was obtained at the beginning and at six months of etanecerpt treatment. Results: From 40 RA patients treated with infliximab in our Hospital five (12,5%; 5 women; 51.8 of mean age (range 38,4-65,2); treated with a mean of 3.8 (range 3.4-4.2) disease-modifying antirheumatoid drugs before biological agents) fulfilled inclusion criteria. A moderate therapeutic response (3.2 < DAS-28 < 5.1 and improvement > 1.2) was achieved in four patients at six months of etanercept treatment regarding the results at the end of infliximab treatment. No important adverse effects occurred during etanercept treatment. Conclusions: RA patients unsuccessfully treated with an a TNF-alpha antagonist may respond successfully with a different TNF-alpha antagonist
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