Bone Erosions Detected by Ultrasound Are Prognostic for Clinical Arthritis Development in Patients With ACPA and Musculoskeletal Pain.

ABSTRACT: Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) often precede onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by years, and there is an urgent clinical need for predictors of arthritis development among such at-risk patients. This study assesses the prognostic value of ultrasound for arthritis development among ACPA-positive patients with musculoskeletal pain. We prospectively followed 82 ACPA-positive patients without clinical signs of arthritis at baseline. Ultrasound at baseline assessed synovial hypertrophy, inflammatory activity by power Doppler, and erosions in small joints of hands and feet. We applied Cox regression analyses to examine associations with clinical arthritis development during follow-up (median, 69 months; range, 24-90 months). We also compared the ultrasound findings among the patie

SUBMITTER: Ziegelasch M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8021704 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature