title: Ankylosis of the wrist bones in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a study with extremity-dedicated MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ankylosis, or spontaneous bone fusion, of the small joints of the hand is a rare event in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), being observed in 0.8% of them on conventional radiographs. It is associated with long-lasting and severe disease. In other settings, such as fracture healing, bone fusion is a reparative process. The aim of this paper is the study of the frequency of wrist ankylosis in patients with RA in comparison with other arthritides; to correlate ankylosis with disease activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 94 patients affected by RA, 71 patients with different rheumatic conditions and 42 controls with no joint disease or with slight hand osteoarthritis were studied. DAS-28 CRP was calculated in patients with RA and psoriatic arthritis. MRI of the clinically most involved wrist was performed with a 0.2 T, extremity-dedicated MRI system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of RA patients, 10/94 (10.6%) showed ankylosis in comparison with 2/113 (1.8%) controls (p=0.015). RA patients with ankylosis had longer disease duration (p=0.019) but similar disease activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI-defined bone ankylosis is frequent in RA. It is not limited to seronegative spondyloarthritides and may be part of the bone damage observed in RA.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zampogna
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camellino
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiology, Ospedale Galliera, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paparo
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cutolo
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiology, University of Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garlaschi
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory and Academic Division of Clinical Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova, Italy. cimmino@unige.it.
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cimmino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000844:Ankylosis / Q000473:pathology*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014955:Wrist Joint / Q000473:pathology*