Diagnostic value of a 3-day course of prednisolone in patients with possible rheumatoid arthritis - the TryCort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In patients with tender and swollen finger joints, the differential diagnosis between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) of the hands can be initially difficult. This prospective study (the TryCort study) was performed to study the diagnostic value of prednisolone in differentiating between RA and hand OA. We present the results of this potentially diagnostic test in patients with possible RA in daily clinical practice by demonstrating the results of a pilot and a validation part of this 'prednisolone test' (pred-test).

Methods

We investigated the response to a 3-day course of 20 mg of prednisolone in patients with suspicion of RA. All patients received 1 g of paracetamol per day for 5 days for pain relief. On days 3-5, a morning dose of 20 mg of pr

SUBMITTER: Kiltz U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5383975 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature