MRI characteristics of patients in clinical remission or low disease activity state according to Disease Activity Score 28-C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP). No statistically significant differences were observed for presence (Fisher’s exact test) or score (Mann-Whitney U test) of any MRI feature.
| All Patients, n = 294 | Remission (DAS28-CRP < 2.6), n = 213 | LDA (2.6 ≤ DAS28-CRP < 3.2), n = 81 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRI Feature | Location | Presence*, n (%) | Score Median (IQR) | Presence*, n (%) | Score Median (IQR) | Presence*, n (%) | Score Median (IQR) |
| Synovitis | |||||||
| Wrist/MCP | Total | 208 (95) | 6 (3–9) | 156 (96) | 5 (3–9) | 52 (91) | 7 (2–9) |
| Wrist | Total | 240 (90) | 3 (2–4) | 174 (90) | 3 (2–4) | 66 (90) | 3 (2–5) |
| Distal radioulnar | 155 (58) | 1 (0–2) | 110 (56) | 1 (0–1) | 45 (62) | 1 (0–2) | |
| Radiocarpal | 220 (82) | 1 (1–2) | 158 (81) | 1 (1–2) | 62 (83) | 1 (1–2) | |
| ICCM | 199 (73) | 1 (0–2) | 143 (73) | 1 (0–2) | 56 (75) | 1 (0–2) | |
| MCP | Total | 192 (81) | 3 (1–5) | 141 (82) | 2 (1–5) | 51 (78) | 3 (1–5) |
| MCP2 | 156 (66) | 1 (0–2) | 116 (67) | 1 (0–2) | 40 (61) | 1 (0–2) | |
| MCP 3 | 137 (57) | 1 (0–1) | 98 (57) | 1 (0–1) | 39 (58) | 1 (0–2) | |
| MCP 4 | 110 (46) | 0 (0–1) | 77 (44) | 0 (0–1) | 33 (52) | 1 (0–1) | |
| MCP 5 | 97 (41) | 0 (0–1) | 72 (41) | 0 (0–1) | 25 (41) | 0 (0–1) | |
| Osteitis | |||||||
| Wrist/MCP | Total | 78 (35) | 0 (0–2) | 57 (35) | 0 (0–2) | 21 (36) | 0 (0–2) |
| Wrist | Total | 84 (31) | 0 (0–1) | 59 (30) | 0 (0–1) | 25 (33) | 0 (0–2) |
| MCP | Total | 44 (16) | 0 (0–0) | 29 (16) | 0 (0–0) | 15 (19) | 0 (0–0) |
| MCP 2 | 29 (10) | 0 (0–0) | 19 (10) | 0 (0–0) | 10 (11) | 0 (0–0) | |
| MCP 3 | 15 (5) | 0 (0–0) | 10 (5) | 0 (0–0) | 5 (5) | 0 (0–0) | |
| MCP 4 | 6 (1.3) | 0 (0–0) | 5 (1.2) | 0 (0–0) | 1 (1.6) | 0 (0–0) | |
| MCP 5 | 14 (5) | 0 (0–0) | 9 (5) | 0 (0–0) | 5 (6) | 0 (0–0) | |
| Erosion | |||||||
| Wrist/MCP | Total | 203 (90) | 7 (3–15) | 155 (92) | 8 (3.5–16) | 48 (84) | 7 (2–13) |
| Wrist | Total | 244 (89) | 5 (2–10) | 182 (91) | 6 (2–10) | 62 (83) | 4 (1–10) |
| MCP | Total | 142 (60) | 1 (0–4) | 108 (63) | 1 (0–4) | 34 (54) | 1 (0–3) |
| MCP 2 | 99 (42) | 0 (0–1) | 77 (45) | 0 (0–1) | 22 (35) | 0 (0–1) | |
| MCP 3 | 94 (40) | 0 (0–1) | 74 (43) | 0 (0–1) | 20 (32) | 0 (0–1) | |
| MCP 4 | 54 (23) | 0 (0–0) | 38 (22) | 0 (0–0) | 16 (25) | 0 (0–0) | |
| MCP 5 | 73 (31) | 0 (0–1) | 56 (33) | 0 (0–1) | 17 (27) | 0 (0–0) | |
↵* Presence: number (n) and proportion (%) of patients with the specified pathology in at least one of the indicated joints. MCP: metacarpophalangeal joint; ICCM: intercarpal-carpometacarpal.