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Abstract
Background: Even though cartilage loss is a known feature of psoriatic (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), research is sparse on its role in the pathogenesis of PsA, its potential use for disease monitoring and for differentiation from RA. We therefore assessed the use of delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC) to evaluate biochemical cartilage changes in metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints in PsA patients and compared these to RA patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 17 patients with active PsA and 20 patients with active RA were evaluated by high-resolution 3 Tesla dGEMRIC using a dedicated 16-channel hand coil. Images were analyzed by two independent raters for dGEMRIC indices and joint space width (JSW) at MCP and PIP joint levels. Results: No significant differences of dGEMRIC values could be found between both study populations (PsA 472.25 ms, RA 461.11 ms; p = 0.763). In all RA and most PsA patients, PIP joints showed significantly lower dGEMRIC indices than MCP joints (RA: D2: p = 0.009, D3: p = 0.008, D4: p = 0.002, D5: p = 0.002; PsA: D3: p = 0.001, D4: p = 0.004). Most joint spaces had similar widths in both disease entities and no significant differences were found. Conclusions: As evaluated by dGEMRIC, the molecular composition of the MCP and PIP joint cartilage of PsA patients is similar to that of RA patients, demonstrating the scientific and clinical feasibility of compositional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in these disease entities. Patterns and severity of compositional cartilage degradation of the finger joints may therefore be assessed beyond mere morphology in PsA and RA patients.
Highlights
Cartilage damage and bone destruction are the main features of progressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1,2]
DGEMRIC indices tended to be higher in PsA patients than in RA patients, yet these differences were not significant (Table 1)
There was no significant difference between the mean delayed gadoliniumenhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC) indices of PsA and RA patients, neither at the MCP nor at the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint level
Summary
Cartilage damage and bone destruction are the main features of progressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1,2]. Even though the exact pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is subject to ongoing research, three main patho-mechanisms are considered to eventually lead to cartilage destruction: a. Unlike RA, the research on cartilage damage in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is sparse, even though it is a known feature of the disease [9]. Even though cartilage loss is a known feature of psoriatic (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), research is sparse on its role in the pathogenesis of PsA, its potential use for disease monitoring and for differentiation from RA. Conclusions: As evaluated by dGEMRIC, the molecular composition of the MCP and PIP joint cartilage of PsA patients is similar to that of RA patients, demonstrating the scientific and clinical feasibility of compositional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in these disease entities. Patterns and severity of compositional cartilage degradation of the finger joints may be assessed beyond mere morphology in PsA and RA patients
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