Novel x-ray score distinguishes psoriatic arthritis from osteoarthritis of the hand

Dr. Bahadur noted that the aim was to focus on plain film radiographs of the hands because these were inexpensive, universally accessible, did not rely on radiologists’ interpretation, and changes in the hands were known to occur in both OA and PsA.

A total of 99 sets of hand x-rays taken between 2008 and 2016 from 50 patients with OA and 49 patients with PsA were obtained. These were anonymized and then analyzed by a musculoskeletal radiologist using the scoring system the team had developed. The radiologist was unaware of the patients’ clinical status. The results were then compared to the clinical diagnosis.

The novel method of scoring each x-ray was then taught to two rheumatology and one radiology trainee during a 1-hour training session and were then asked to score the same radiographs.