Clinical value of high frequency ultrasounography in the evaluation of osteophytes in patients with hand osteoarthritis / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To summarize the common sites of osteophytes in patients with hand osteoarthritis (OA), and analyze the correlation between the severity of osteophytes and clinical factors.Methods:One hundred and four patients with hand OA were selected and divided into three groups according to the disease duration <1 year, 1~5 years, >5 years. The first carpometacarpal joint(CMC1), metacarpophalangeal joint(MCP), proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) and distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) were detected by high fre- quency ultrasound. The location of osteophytes and osteophyte semi-quantitative grading scores (OSGS) were recorded. The patients age, disease duration, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactionprotein (CRP), the visual analogy score (VAS) and Australian/Canadian osteoarthrits hand index (AUSCAN) were collected. The indicators of different groups were compared, the incidence and location of osteophytes was calculated, and the correlation between osteophytes and clinical factors was analyzed. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon rank sum test, Kruskal-Wallis test, χ2 test, Spearman correlation analysis. Results:① Osteophytes accounted for 33.56%(1 047/3 120) of the 3 120 joints in hands. There were statistically significant differences in OSGS and AUSCAN in different groups ( H=13.485, P<0.01; H=51.491, P<0.01), while no statistically difference in VAS, ESR and CRP ( H=5.808, P=0.055; H=2.878, P=0.237; H=2.319, P=0.314). ② In different joint areas of hands, PIP accounted for the largest proportion (46.54%, 484/1 040), followed by DIP (46.51%, 387/832), CMC1 (30.77%, 64/208), and MCP accounted for the smallest proportion(10.77%, 112/1 040). There were statistically significant differences in the incidence of osteophytes in different joint areas( χ2=384.194, P<0.01).③ In the interphalangeal joint areas of hands, the largest osteophytes composition ratio was MCP3 (46.43%, 52/112), PIP3 (30.58%, 148/484) and DIP2 (31.01%, 120/387), respectively. ④ OSGS were positively associated with age, disease course, VAS and AUSCAN ( r=0.370, P<0.01; r=0.382, P<0.01; r=0.215, P=0.029; r=0.390; P<0.01), there was no correlation between OSGS and ESR or CRP ( r=0.173, P=0.079; r=0.162, P=0.101). Conclusion:PIP are the most common sites of osteo-phytes in hand OA, followed by DIP. High frequency ultrasound can help the diagnosis and evaluate the severity of hand OA.