Session Information
Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)
Background/Purpose
To assess the association of inflammation severity and cartilage damage measured by delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the cartilage (dGEMRIC) of metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods
43 patients with RA according to ACR/EULAR classification criteria [age 52.9 ± 14.5 years, range: 18 – 77 years; disease duration 2.9 ± 4.9 years, range: <0.5 – 19 years; Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS28) 3.7 ± 1.5] were included in this study. All study participants received 3T MRI scans of the metacarpophalangeal joints of the second and third finger. Cartilage composition was assessed with dGEMRIC. The severity of synovitis was scored according to the RAMRIS synovitis subscore (range: 0-3) by two readers in consensus. In the cases with identical synovitis subscores in MCP 2 and 3, two radiologists decided in consensus on the joint with more severe synovitis and the joint with less severe synovitis. To test the association of inflammation severity and cartilage damage and in order to eliminate inter-patient confounders, each patient’s MCP 2 and 3 were dichotomized into the joint with more severe synovitis versus the joint with less severe synovitis for a paired Wilcoxon test of dGEMRIC value. The study was approved by the local ethics committee and written informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to the MR examination.
Results
dGEMRIC value of MCP with more severe synovitis was 369 msec ± 137, dGEMRIC value of MCP with less severe synovitis was 421 msec ± 129. RAMRIS synovitis subscore of the joint with more severe synovitis was 2.51 (range: 1-3), synovitis subscore of the joint with less severe synovitis was 1.86 (range: 0-3). There was a significant difference of dGEMRIC value (median of difference: 47.12, CI [16.6; 62.76]) between the dichotomized MCPs (p = 0.0001). There was a significant correlation between dGEMRIC value and RAMRIS synovitis grading of the joint with more severe synovitis (r = 0.5; p < 0.05) and the joint with less severe synovitis (r = 0.33; p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Our data concur with the concept that synovitis severity is associated with cartilage damage. The local inflammatory status on a joint level correlated significantly with the extent of cartilage degradation.
Disclosure:
D. P. Sewerin,
None;
D. C. Schleich,
None;
A. Mueller-Lutz,
None;
P. D. B. Ostendorf,
None;
C. Rubbert,
None;
D. C. Buchbender,
None;
P. D. M. Schneider,
None;
P. D. G. Antoch,
None;
D. F. Miese,
None.
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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/magnetic-resonance-imaging-of-inflammatory-severity-and-cartilage-damage-of-finger-joints-in-rheumatoid-arthritis/