AUTHOR=Bozzalla-Cassione Emanuele , Grignaschi Silvia , Xoxi Blerina , Luvaro Terenzj , Greco Maria Immacolata , Mazzucchelli Iolanda , Bugatti Serena , Montecucco Carlomaurizio , Manzo Antonio 

TITLE=Insights Into the Concept of Rheumatoid Arthritis Flare

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.852220

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2022.852220

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Identification of a pathological change in course of systemic chronic immune-inflammatory diseases is key to deliver effective treatment strategies. In this context, one of the most compelling issues is the concept of flare. The multifaceted expression of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) makes it difficult to provide an omni-comprehensive definition of flare, able to encompass the different objective and subjective domains of the pathology. Our incomplete understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this process contributes further to the partial comprehension of its potential clinical expression. In this review we focus on the proposed pathophysiological processes underlying disease recrudescence in RA and on the variable definitions that have been adopted to capture flare in clinical practice through its objective, subjective and temporal domains. What emerges, overall, is a complex landscape far from being unraveled.