TY - JOUR T1 - Determining Metacarpophalangeal Flexion Angle Tolerance for Reliable Volumetric Joint Space Measurements by High-resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 1941 LP - 1944 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.160649 VL - 43 IS - 10 AU - Stephanie Tom AU - Mark Frayne AU - Sarah L. Manske AU - Andrew J. Burghardt AU - Kathryn S. Stok AU - Steven K. Boyd AU - Cheryl Barnabe Y1 - 2016/10/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/43/10/1941.abstract N2 - Objective. The position-dependence of a method to measure the joint space of metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) was studied.Methods. Cadaveric MCP were imaged at 7 flexion angles between 0 and 30 degrees. The variability in reproducibility for mean, minimum, and maximum joint space widths and volume measurements was calculated for increasing degrees of flexion.Results. Root mean square coefficient of variance values were < 5% under 20 degrees of flexion for mean, maximum, and volumetric joint spaces. Values for minimum joint space width were optimized under 10 degrees of flexion.Conclusion. MCP joint space measurements should be acquired at < 10 degrees of flexion in longitudinal studies. ER -