RESEARCH - Digital x-ray radiogrammetry accurately assesses rheumatoid arthritis

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Digital x-ray radiogrammetry accurately assesses rheumatoid arthritis

1/12/2006

By: Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Jan 12 - Digital x-ray combined with analysis by

a Radiogrammetry Kit accurately diagnoses rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and

monitors its progression, according to a report in the December 2005

Arthritis & Rheumatism.

" The Radiogrammetry Kit and also the Digital X-ray Radiogrammetry can

supplement the established scoring methods (Larsen or Sharp Score) with

quantitative data, can secure an early diagnosis of RA, and can also detect

an exacerbation of disease activity in the course of RA, " Dr. Joachim

Boettcher from Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany, told Reuters

Health.

Dr. Boettcher and colleagues evaluated digital x-ray radiogrammetry (DXR)

and the Radiogrammetry Kit program as new tools for quantifying

disease-related periarticular osteoporosis and for measuring joint space

narrowing in rheumatoid arthritis.

DXR demonstrated significant decreases in bone mineral density and joint

space width with increasing RA severity, as measured by Larsen score or by

the Steinbrocker criteria, the authors report.

Similarly, periarticular mineralization and joint space width as measured by

DXR radiogrammetry decreased with worsening Sharp erosion scores and Sharp

joint space narrowing scores, the report indicates.

During six years of follow-up, all DXR and Radiogrammetry Test parameters

decreased significantly, the researchers note, with an annual reduction in

bone mineral density ranging from 3.2% to 3.6% and an annual mean narrowing

of joint space width of 2.0%.

Decreases in bone mineral density and joint space width were most marked

during the first year after diagnosis of RA, the results indicate, and the

rates of decline diminished beyond the first year.

" While DXR can quantify disease-related demineralization and reduction of

cortical thickness that depends on the severity of RA, the clinical use of

the Radiogrammetry Kit allows a reliable calculation of the

metacarpal-phalangeal joint space width in patients with different stages of

RA independently of the scoring method used, " the investigators conclude.

" We routinely recommend the Radiogrammetry Kit and also the Digital X-ray

Radiogrammetry (with calculation of cortical bone mineral density and

Metacarpal Index) in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, " Dr.

Boettcher said. " We think that the cost-effective application of the

Radiogrammetry Kit and the Digital X-ray Radiogrammetry also is reasonable

as a diagnostic tool in patients who are suspected of having rheumatoid

arthritis. "

Dr. Boettcher's team is planning a prospective study " to evaluate if the

Radiogrammetry Kit and also the Digital X-ray Radiogrammetry can distinguish

patients with different drug therapy regimes and can reveal therapeutic

effects in comparison with the clinical course of patients with RA (i.e.,

DAS 28 Score), " the investigator added.

He and his colleagues hope that these techniques " will become part of the

clinical routine based on their cost-effectiveness, widely available

applicability, and semiautomatic performance which needs no

physician-radiologists with extensive experience compared with MRI

investigations (for example). "

By Will Boggs, M.D.

Arthritis Rheum 2005;52:3850-3859.

Last Updated: 2006-01-11 13:13:26 -0400 (Reuters Health)

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