title: Simplified Radiographic Damage Index for Affected Joints in Chronic Gouty Arthritis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new radiographic damage scoring method (DAmagE index of GoUt; DAEGU) in chronic gout using plain radiography. Two independent observers scored foot x-rays from 15 patients with chronic gout according to the DAEGU method and the modified Sharp/van der Heijde (SvdH) method. The 10 metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and 2 interphalangeal (IP) joints of the first toes of both feet were scored to assess the degrees of erosion and joint space narrowing (JSN). The intraobserver and interobserver reliabilities were analyzed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and minimal detectable change (MDC). The correlation between the DAEGU and SvdH methods was analyzed by calculating the Spearman's rho correlation coefficients and Kappa coefficients. The DAEGU method was found to be highly reproducible (0.945-0.987 for the intraobserver and 0.993-0.996 for the interobserver ICC values). The erosion, JSN, and total scores exhibited strong positive correlations between the DAEGU and SvdH methods and also within each method (r = 0.860-0.969, P < 0.001 for all parameters). The DAEGU and SvdH methods were in very good agreement as determined by Kappa coefficient analysis [0.732 (0.387-1.000) for erosion and 1.000 (1.000-1.000) for JSN]. In conclusion, this study revealed that DAEGU method was a reliable and feasible tool in the assessment of radiographic damage in chronic gout. The DAEGU method may provide a more easy assessment of structural damage in chronic gout in the real clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea .
authors.forename: Chang-Nam
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1722-2190
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Fatima Hospital, Daegu, Korea .
authors.forename: Tae Eun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7710-5263
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Fatima Hospital, Daegu, Korea .
authors.forename: Kyungmin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0049-574X
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea .
authors.forename: Jun Hyun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8547-0893
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Center, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea .
authors.forename: Seong-Kyu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7780-0167
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015210:Arthritis, Gouty / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Bone Erosion; Gout; Radiography; Reliability