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Discordance between clinical and imaging criteria: assessment by magnetic resonance imaging of the foot of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract

Evaluation of the correlation between disease activity and joint involvement was assessed by MRI in the clinically dominant foot of patients with RA. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of 55 patients with RA, who were subjected to clinical evaluation and MRI assessment. Imaging of the clinically dominant foot was performed, and both the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28-CRP) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire—Disability Index (HAQ-DI) were measured. The majority of patients classified as in clinical remission presented some degree of inflammatory activity upon MRI evaluation. Statistical analysis demonstrated no correlation between MRI findings and clinical scores. There is evidence of disease activity on MRI of the clinically dominant foot even in patients classified as in clinical remission according to the DAS28-CRP criteria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Rua Júlio Cesar de Oliveira Serrano, no. 135, apto 302-3, Vitória, ES, 29065-720, Brazil

    Ronaldo Garcia Rondina, Ricardo Andrade Fernandes de Mello, Valeria Valim, Elton Francisco Pavan Batista & Ronaldo de Oliveira Júnior

  2. Division of Medical Imaging, HUCAM/UFES, Vitória, Brazil

    Rafael Burgomeister Lourenco

Authors
  1. Ronaldo Garcia Rondina
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  2. Ricardo Andrade Fernandes de Mello
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  3. Valeria Valim
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  4. Rafael Burgomeister Lourenco
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  5. Elton Francisco Pavan Batista
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  6. Ronaldo de Oliveira Júnior
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronaldo Garcia Rondina.

Ethics declarations

All the authors (Ronaldo Garcia Rondina, Ricardo Andrade Fernandes de Mello, Valeria Valim, Rafael Burgomeister Lourenco, and Ronaldo de Oliveira Júnior) declare that there was no financing/financial relationship of any type for this research.

Research involving human participants

The study was approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee of the Health Sciences Center (CCS) under number 494.041 (comparable ethical standards with the 1964 Helsinki declaration).

Conflicts of interest

All the authors (Ronaldo Garcia Rondina, Ricardo Andrade Fernandes de Mello, Valeria Valim, Rafael Burgomeister Lourenco, Ronaldo de Oliveira Júnior) declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Rondina, R.G., de Mello, R.A.F., Valim, V. et al. Discordance between clinical and imaging criteria: assessment by magnetic resonance imaging of the foot of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol Int 37, 1357–1364 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-017-3754-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-017-3754-x

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