Session Information
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Title: Rheumatoid Arthritis - Human Etiology and Pathogenesis Poster III
Session Type: ACR Poster Session C
Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM
Background/Purpose:
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by synovitis leading to bone erosions and joint destruction, but little is known about bone structure in the joints of patients before they are diagnosed with RA.
High Resolution peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (HR-pQCT) is a new imaging technique allowing detailed automatic evaluation of bone structure.
The aim was to quantify the cortical and trabecular bone structure in the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints of anticitrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) positive patients with arthralgia and compare with healthy controls.
Methods:
Using a cross-sectional study design patients were recruited from local rheumatologists and controls from a website for test subjects. All individuals underwent medical history interview, clinical examination, and biochemical screening including ACPA. Patient inclusion criteria were positive ACPA and arthralgia. Exclusion criteria were fulfillment of the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria for RA and other rheumatologic or metabolic bone diseases. Exclusion criteria for controls were known rheumatologic or metabolic bone disease, current or prior arthralgia, arthritis, and positive ACPA.
The right hand MCP joints were imaged with HR-pQCT using an isotropic voxel size of 82 µm.
A region of 1.2 cm located proximal to the articular surface of the MCP head was evaluated in the 2nd and 3rd finger using a semiautomatic program. Volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), average cortical thickness (Ct.Th), and cortical area (Ct.Ar) were evaluated. Nine patients were rescanned after repositioning and the coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated. Values are mean(SD).
Results:
Twenty-six ACPA positive patients without clinical arthritis (age 50.4(13.8)) and 26 healthy controls (age 49.9(14.5)) were included. CV of the HR-pQCT parameters was 0.64–3.53%.
The overall bone density was similar in the groups since vBMD and BV/TV did not differ. In addition, the cortical bone was not affected in patients, as we found no difference in Ct.Th and Ct.Ar between the groups. In contrast, the trabeculae were significantly (p < 0.05) thinner in both 2nd (87.7(9.7) µm vs 93.3(9.8) µm) and 3rd (83.7(9.7) µm vs 89.9(10.2) µm) MCP head compared with controls, whereas Tb.N and Tb.Sp did not differ.
Conclusion:
It has earlier been demonstrated that inflammation of the synovium and bone marrow is crucial for development of erosions in RA. In the present study we demonstrate that the trabecular thickness is affected very early, i.e. before the onset of clinical arthritis. Therefore, up-regulation of bone resorption in the bone marrow may be an early feature of RA. Bone loss before clinical RA warrants earlier diagnosis and treatment.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Keller KK, Thomsen JS, Stengaard-Pedersen K, Nielsen AW, Schiøtz-Christensen B, Svendsen L, Graakjær M, Pedersen PM, Unger B, Langdahl B, Hauge EM. Trabecular Thinning in Metacarpophalangeal Joints of Anticitrullinated Peptide Antibody Positive Patients with Arthralgia [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015; 67 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/trabecular-thinning-in-metacarpophalangeal-joints-of-anticitrullinated-peptide-antibody-positive-patients-with-arthralgia/. Accessed .« Back to ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting 2015
ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/trabecular-thinning-in-metacarpophalangeal-joints-of-anticitrullinated-peptide-antibody-positive-patients-with-arthralgia/