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. 2023 Jan;9(1):e002552.
doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2022-002552.

Frequency of joint inflammation is associated with local joint damage progression in rheumatoid arthritis despite long-term targeted treatment

Sascha L Heckert  1 , Sytske Anne Bergstra  2 , Yvonne P M Goekoop-Ruiterman  3 , Melek Güler-Yüksel  4 , Willem F Lems  5 , Xanthe M E Matthijssen  2 , Maikel van Oosterhout  6 , Tom W J Huizinga  2 , Cornelia F Allaart  2
Affiliations

Frequency of joint inflammation is associated with local joint damage progression in rheumatoid arthritis despite long-term targeted treatment

Sascha L Heckert et al. RMD Open. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate whether in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) frequency of local joint inflammation is associated with radiographic joint damage progression in that joint.

Methods: Data from 473 patients with RA and available radiographs from the BeSt study were used. Patients were treated to target (Disease Activity Score of ≤2.4) for a median of 10 years. At each study visit every 3 months, joints were assessed for swelling and tenderness. Radiographs of hands and feet were made yearly. A generalised linear mixed model was used to assess the association between the percentage of study visits at which clinical inflammation was observed in a joint (cumulative inflammation) and radiographic joint damage in that same joint. Clinical inflammation was primarily defined as joint swelling (with or without joint tenderness). For secondary analyses, we also investigated joint tenderness without joint swelling. Damage was measured as the percentage of the maximum possible Sharp-Van der Heijde score in a particular joint.

Results: Cumulative local joint swelling was associated with local progression of radiographic damage in the same joint (β=0.14, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.15). This association was also found in a subset of joints that were swollen at least once. Cumulative local joint tenderness without concurrent local joint swelling was less strongly associated with local radiographic joint damage progression (β=0.04, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.05).

Conclusions: In RA, long-term cumulative local joint inflammation is associated with joint damage progression in the same joint.

Keywords: inflammation; rheumatoid arthritis; synovitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The original BeSt study was funded by a research grant from the Dutch College of Health Insurances (OG 99-026) with additional funding from Schering-Plough BV and Centocor. The authors, not the sponsors, were responsible for the study design, the collection, analyses and interpretation of all data, the writing of this article and the decision to publish.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time order of joint inflammation and damage development. * No baseline joint swelling assessment available for 6 joints.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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