Is joint pain in patients with arthralgia suspicious for progression to rheumatoid arthritis explained by subclinical inflammation? A cross-sectional MRI study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The development of RA includes a phase of arthralgia preceding clinical arthritis. The aetiology of symptoms of arthralgia is unclear. Since subclinical joint inflammation is expected to be causally related to pain, we aimed to study associations between subclinical MRI-detected inflammation and pain in patients with arthralgia suspicious for progression to RA.

Methods

Unilateral MRIs of the wrist, MCP (2-5) and MTP (1-5) joints of 325 patients who fulfilled the EULAR definition of arthralgia suspicious for progression to RA were scored by two readers on subclinical inflammation (synovitis, bone marrow oedema and tenosynovitis). Associations between MRI-detected inflammation and overall pain severity at patient level (measured using the visual analogue scale), as

SUBMITTER: Burgers LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6319603 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature