A PROSPECTIVE STUDY COMPARING ULTRASONOGRAPHIC FINDINGS AND INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AS A PREDICTOR OF JOINT EROSIONS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS.

Rheumatoid arthritis is chronic infiammatory disease that affects the joints. This results in painful joints, swelling and stiffness in the joints. The present prospective comparative study aimed to compare the USG Doppler findings with the infiammatory marker levels in being a better predictor of joint erosions in rheumatoid arthritis. Total 50 patients coming rheumatology and medicine OPD were studied for infiammatory markers and ultrasonography findings. Radiological investigations such as High resolution USG power Doppler (4-12 MHz) and x-ray of the affected joints were carried out. Majority of participants (60%) belonged to 31-50 years of age group and female gender (86%). The change in infiammatory markers were found to be poorly correlated to joint erosions, while that of USG erosions was found to be strongly positively correlated with the same. Multivariate regression analysis showed that in presence all others also only delta USG erosion significantly impacts delta VDH, or the gold standard(X Ray) for evaluation joint erosion This strongly proves that USG erosion is a better predictor of joint erosions than the other independent variables(infiammatory markers)