Active synovitis with osteitis predicts residual synovitis in RA

(HealthDay)—For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have clinical response to treatment, active synovitis with osteitis is associated with subsequent residual synovitis (R-synovitis), according to a study published online Feb. 3 in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.

Jun Fukae, M.D., Ph.D., from the Hokkaido Medical Center for Rheumatic Diseases in Sapporo, Japan, and colleagues examined the correlation between active synovitis/osteitis and R-synovitis in patients with RA. The authors analyzed 320 finger joints of 16 patients with active RA at baseline who subsequently achieved clinical low disease activity or remission. A semi-quantitative ultrasound score was used to assess synovial vascularity (SV). The presence of grade >2 SV at the 24th week was used to define R-synovitis.

The researchers detected active synovitis in 116 joints at baseline using ultrasonography. At the 24th week, 47 joints had R-synovitis. Osteitis was detected with magnetic resonance imaging in 12 joints at baseline. There was a significant correlation for the presence of active synovitis with osteitis at baseline with R-synovitis at the 24th week.

"Active synovitis in the presence of osteitis predicted R-synovitis regardless of whether there was a clinical improvement in RA," the authors write.