Radiosynoviorthesis (RSO): influencing factors and therapy monitoring.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of radiosynoviorthesis (RSO) in relation to joint type and underlying disease by both self-assessment of patients and scintigraphic assessment to determine conditions under which RSO might be preferable to the sole intra-articular corticoid injection.


METHODS
Radiosynoviorthesis was performed on 136 patients for 424 joints [242 small, 130 medium-sized, and 52 large joints; 313 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 111 with osteoarthritis (OA)]. The success of RSO was evaluated after 12 months by patients' estimation, and in 35 patients for 157 joints additionally by two-phase bone scintigraphy. The relative change in the scintigraphic uptake was compared with the patients' estimation.


RESULTS
The subjectively estimated success rates for the small, medium-sized, and large joints were 89% (215/242), 86% (112/130), and 79% (41/52), and for RA and OA 89% (280/313) and 79% (88/111), respectively. The scintigraphically determined response rates for small and medium-sized joints were 81% (86/106) and 69% (35/51), respectively. There was a mismatch between patients' assessment and scintigraphic assessments in 18% (28/157) with 6 false-negative and 22 false-positive estimations using scintigraphy as the standard of reference.


CONCLUSIONS
The success of RSO is higher in patients with RA than in patients with OA. For the finger, ankle, and wrist joints in RA, RSO is so promising that we would like to advocate its preference over the sole intraarticular corticoid injection. Perfusion bone scintigraphy can be used for therapy monitoring and earlier switching to RSO by showing that other therapies have failed.
Zuderman
Lidiya
L
Clinic and Policlinic of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
Liepe
Knut
K
Zöphel
Klaus
K
Andreeff
Michael
M
Kotzerke
Joerg
J
Luboldt
Wolfgang
W
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001168:Arthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome