RESEARCH - Radiological characteristics of the lumbar spine in patients with RA

[Guest guest]

Presse Med. 2007 Oct;36(10 Pt 1):1385-9. Epub 2007 May 16.

[Radiological characteristics of the lumbar spine in patients with

rheumatoid arthritis][Article in French]

Harzy T, Allali F, Bennani-Othmani M, Hajjaj-Hassouni N.

Service de rhumatologie, Hôpital El Ayachi, CHU Ibn Sina, Rabat-Salé, Maroc.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and severity

of lumbar lesions on radiography of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

(RA) and of population controls and to study the correlation between

lumbar lesions and RA severity.

METHODS: RA patients who met the revised American College of

Rheumatology criteria were matched with population controls for age,

sex, and the presence (or absence) of low back pain. Thoracolumbar

radiographs were read by two observers looking for vertebral

fractures, disc space narrowing, endplate erosion, facet joint

involvement, and osteophytosis. A severity score was assigned to each

lesion.

RESULTS: This study included 60 RA patients and 60 controls, matched

for sex (54 women and 6 men in each group) and age (mean age was

47.8+/-14 years in the RA group and 48.4+/-14 years in the control

group). Prevalence of lumbar lesions was 83% in RA patients and 85% in

the control subjects (p=0.8). Vertebral fractures were significantly

more frequent in RA patients (p=0.042). In the RA group, disc space

narrowing and the severity of endplate erosion were both correlated

with higher Larsen grades (p=0.02 and 0.007 respectively), and the

severity of endplate erosion was correlated with coxitis (p=0.03).

DISCUSSION: In our study, radiological lumbar lesions, except for

vertebral fractures, were no more common among RA patients than among

population controls. Endplate erosion and vertebral disc destruction

were correlated with RA severity scores.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17509810

--

Not an MD