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MRI pattern of arthritis in systemic lupus erythematosus: a comparative study with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy subjects

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Skeletal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 13 November 2014

Abstract

Objective

In this study we aimed to describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pattern of the distribution of bone marrow edema (BME) and joint erosion in hands and wrists of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with arthritis in comparison with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy subjects (H).

Methods

SLE patients with arthritis (n = 50), patients with RA (n = 22), and H (n = 48) were enrolled. Every patient underwent a non-dominant hand (2nd–5th metacarpophalangeal joints) and wrist MRI without contrast injection with a low-field extremity dedicated 0.2-Tesla instrument.

Results

BME was observed in two SLE patients in the hand (4 %) and in 15 in the wrist (13 %) versus three (30 %), and 14 (63 %) RA patients. No BME was found in H. Erosions were observed in the hand in 24 SLE patients (48 %), 15 RA patients (68 %), and 9 H (18 %); in the wrist, in 41 (82 %) SLE, all RA and 47 (97 %) H. The cumulative erosive burden in SLE was significantly higher than in H (c = 0.002) but similar to RA patients.

Conclusions

Joint involvement of the wrist in SLE is similar to RA and is not as rare as expected, as shown by the comparison with healthy subjects. On the contrary, the involvement of the hand in SLE is significantly lower compared to RA.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Wendy Doherty for her English language revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheumatology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Tani Chiara, Possemato Niccolò, Delle Sedie Andrea, Bombardieri Stefano & Mosca Marta

  2. Radiology Unit, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    D’aniello Dario & Caramella Davide

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  1. Tani Chiara
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  2. D’aniello Dario
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  3. Possemato Niccolò
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  4. Delle Sedie Andrea
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  7. Mosca Marta
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Correspondence to Tani Chiara.

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Chiara, T., Dario, D., Niccolò, P. et al. MRI pattern of arthritis in systemic lupus erythematosus: a comparative study with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy subjects. Skeletal Radiol 44, 261–266 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-014-2033-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-014-2033-0

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