ABSTRACT
Objective: To measure serum level of high sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs CRP] in patients with hand osteoarthritis [OA] and to correlate this level with the activity of the disease as detected by bone scintigraphy of both hands
Methodology: The study included 59 patients with hand OA, J6 non erosive OA [non EOA] and 23 erosive OA [EOA]. All patients were subjected to full medical history taking, thorough general clinical examination and clinical examination of hand joints, plain x-ray and bone scintigraphy of both hands. Serum level of hs CRP was measured by particle enhanced immunoturbidimetric method
Results: Serum level of hs CRP was significantly higher in patients with EOA [6. 74 +/- 0.52 mg/L] than in non EOA patients [5.38 +/- 0.58 mg/L]. There was a statistically highly significant difference between both groups as regards the number of scintigraphically positive joints. There was also a significant correlation between hs CRP and the number of clinically affected joints within each group. The correlation between hs CRP and scintigraphically affected joint count was highly significant in EOA patients only. The radiological joint count did not correlate with hs CRP in either group
Conclusion: Higher serum level of hs CRP in EOA may indicate the presence of an inflammatory element in this type of OA. The positive correlation between the level of hs CRP and the count of scintigraphically affected hand joints in EOA demonstrates that it can be used as a feasible test to assess disease activity