Impact of ultrasonography on treatment decision in rheumatoid arthritis: the IMPULSAR study.

Ultrasonography (US) has shown to be more sensitive than physical examination for diagnosis and assessment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is also a useful approach for accurate monitoring and intensive treatment adjustment. However, there is limited information concerning the impact of US on therapeutic decision-making in routine daily practice. A single-center cross-sectional study in routine daily practice was conducted to determine the percentage of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in which treatment decision was modified on the basis of results of musculoskeletal ultrasonography. All consecutive patients with RA visited for the control of their disease between September and November 2014 were included. Patients were visited by their attending rheumatologist, who made a therapeutic decision according to the results of physical examination and laboratory tests. Thereafter, a musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) was performed by an independent expert sonographer. According to US findings, a change in therapeutic decision was considered, and categorized as 'negative' (maintenance of the therapeutic attitude) or 'positive' (intensification or reduction of treatment). A total of 78 patients (83% women, mean age 63.3 years) were included. In 29 patients [32%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 26.5-48.9], a change in the therapeutic decision was made, which included intensification of treatment in 18 (62.1%) and reduction of treatment in 11 (37.9%). Change of treatment was more frequent in patients with intermediate disease activity (low and moderate) than in those in clinical remission or with high activity (41.4 vs. 25%), in men than in women (53.8 vs. 33.8%), and in the presence than in the absence of bone erosions (43.6 vs. 21.7%), although differences were not statistically significant. We conclude that in patients with RA, joint US is a relevant complementary tool for treatment decisions in daily practice, particularly in patients with intermediate disease activity.

Improved prediction of knee osteoarthritis progression by genetic polymorphisms: the Arthrotest Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a genetic prognostic tool to predict radiographic progression towards severe disease in primary knee OA (KOA) patients. METHODS: This investigation was a cross-sectional, retrospective, multicentric association study in 595 Spanish KOA patients. Caucasian patients aged ≥40 years at the time of diagnosis of primary KOA of Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2 or 3 were included. Patients who progressed to Kellgren-Lawrence score 4 or who were referred for total knee replacement within 8 years after diagnosis were classified as progressors to severe disease. Clinical variables of the initial stages of the disease (gender, BMI, age at diagnosis, OA in the contralateral knee, and OA in other joints) were registered as potential predictors. Single nucleotide polymorphisms and clinical variables with an association of P < 0.05 were included in the multivariate analysis using forward logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms and the time of primary KOA diagnosis were significantly associated with KOA severe progression in the exploratory cohort (n = 220; P < 0.05). The predictive accuracy of the clinical variables was limited: area under the curve (AUC) = 0.66. When genetic variables were added to the clinical model (full model), the prediction of KOA progression was significantly improved (AUC = 0.82). Combining only genetic variables (rs2073508, rs10845493, rs2206593, rs10519263, rs874692, rs7342880, rs780094 and rs12009), a predictive model with good accuracy was also obtained (AUC = 0.78). The predictive ability for KOA progression of the full model was confirmed on the replication cohort (two-sample Z-test; n = 62; P = 0.190). CONCLUSION: An accurate prognostic tool to predict primary KOA progression has been developed based on genetic and clinical information from OA patients.