In erosive hand osteoarthritis more inflammatory signs on ultrasound are found than in the rest of hand osteoarthritis

Abstract

Inflammatory signs are more frequent in EOA than in non-EOA, not only in erosive joints but also in non-erosive joints, suggesting an underlying systemic cause for erosive evolution.

Inflammatory ultrasound features show independent associations with progression of structural damage after over 2 years of follow-up in patients with hand osteoarthritis

“…Earlier, cross-sectional studies have been done showing associations between inflammatory features as assessed by ultrasound or MRI and structural damage2 8 which support the observations of this study. Risk factors for structural damage have been more widely investigated in patients with OA of the knee.…”

MRI findings predict radiographic progression and development of erosions in hand osteoarthritis

“…A subset of patients develops erosive hand OA, which is often associated with more inflammatory findings 2. Hence, erosive hand OA is often called ‘inflammatory OA’ 3.…”

Imaging of non-osteochondral tissues in osteoarthritis

“…In addition to morphologic changes, Doppler techniques enable evaluation of synovial vascularity, a surrogate of inflammatory activity 65,66 . A recent study demonstrated that ultrasound-detected synovial thickening and power Doppler signals were more frequently found in erosive hand OA compared to non-erosive hand OA 69 . It should be noted that, while color Doppler ultrasound is a useful technique for the detection of synovitis, it cannot differentiate between synovitis in OA and other arthritides based on the findings of color Doppler signals alone 70 .…”