MRI 'can be used to predict progression of hand osteoarthritis'

A new study from Norway has shed light on new ways in which magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques can be used to predict the progression of hand osteoarthritis.

Research conducted at the Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo involving 74 patients has been carried out to look at whether MRI features can predict radiographic progression, including erosive evolution, in patients from the Oslo hand osteoarthritis study, the first longitudinal study of the disease with available MRI.

Of the 74 patients, 91 percent were female, with an average age of 67.9 years for the group as a whole. MRI scans of the dominant hand and conventional radiographs were taken at baseline and after a five-year follow-up period, with various measures of progression assessed over half a decade.

According to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, a number of these factors could be used to predict which patients would experience worse outcomes, including the occurrence of synovitis - an inflammation in the lining of the joint - plus the presence of bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and joint space narrowing.

Baseline synovitis, BMLs, narrow joint spaces, bone damage, the presence of osteophytes and malalignment were all shown to be significantly associated with the development of radiographic erosions, with malalignment demonstrating the strong link.

The researchers concluded: "BMLs, synovitis and joint space narrowing were the strongest predictors for radiographic progression. Malalignment was associated with incident erosions only. Future studies should explore whether reducing BMLs and inflammation can decrease the risk of structural progression."

A spokeswoman for Arthritis Research UK, which is running a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of drugs usually used to rheumatoid arthritis to treat osteoarthritis of the hand, commented that imaging - specifically MRI - could be useful in detecting osteoarthritic progression, but tended to be too expensive for routine clinical use.