title: Prognosis of 5-year radiographic erosions of the wrist according to early, late, and persistent wrist swelling or tenderness in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether early inflammatory activity in the first year of disease compared to persistent or later occurrence of swelling or tenderness in the wrist joints is associated with 5-year erosions in the same joint in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 195 patients with early active RA was enrolled in the Finnish RA Combination Trial. Swelling and tenderness of wrists were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 months. Radiographs of the wrists were taken at the baseline and at 5 years. The 237 wrist joints of 125 patients without erosions at baseline were classified according to wrist swelling, i.e., I: never swollen; II: swollen during first year only; III: swollen during the second to fourth year only; and IV: swollen during the first year and followup, and similarly according to tenderness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty percent of the wrists were never swollen in all clinical examinations; 43% were swollen only during the first year; 11% were not swollen in the first year, but were swollen at some time during 24-48 months; and 16% of wrists were swollen during the first year and at some time during 24-48 months. At 5 years, 64% of 237 wrists remained free of erosions. Erosions developed in 82% of wrists that were swollen during both the first year and 24-48 months, versus 56% of wrists that were not swollen at first year but were swollen during 24-48 months, 31% of wrists that were swollen during the first year only, and 11% of wrists that were never swollen. Similar results were seen for joint tenderness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Wrist swelling during the first year only is associated with less future wrist radiographic damage than persistent swelling or swelling only during the followup. Our results emphasize the value of early and continuous suppression of inflammatory activity in early RA.
authors.affiliation: Satakunta Central Hospital, Rauma, Finland. reijo.luukkainen@fimnet.fi
authors.forename: Reijo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luukkainen
authors.forename: Tuulikki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sokka
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kautiainen
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hannonen
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laasonen
authors.forename: Marjatta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leirisalo-Repo
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korpela
authors.forename: Heikki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Julkunen
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Puolakka
authors.forename: Harri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Blåfield
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kauppi
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Möttönen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011859:Radiography; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014953:Wrist / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents