Subclinical inflammation on MRI of hand and foot of anticitrullinated peptide antibody-negative arthralgia patients at risk for rheumatoid arthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

It is known that anticitrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA)-positive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a preclinical phase. Whether this phase is also present in ACPA-negative RA is unknown. To determine this, we studied ACPA-negative arthralgia patients who were considered prone to progress to RA for local subclinical inflammation observed on hand and foot magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

Methods

We studied a total of 64 ACPA-negative patients without clinically detectable arthritis and with arthralgia of the small joints within the previous 1 year. Because of the character of the patients' symptoms, the rheumatologists considered these patients to be prone to progress to RA. For comparisons, we evaluated 19 healthy, symptom-free controls and 20 ACPA-negative

SUBMITTER: van Steenbergen HW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4060237 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature