Key clinical point: High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) of 2 metacarpophalangeal joints and conventional radiography (CR) of 44 joints had comparable diagnostic accuracy for classifying patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as having erosive disease.
Major finding: Using CR as reference, the sensitivity and specificity of HR-pQCT for classifying patients having erosive RA was 89% (95% confidence interval [CI], 84%-92%) and 30% (95% Cl, 20%-43%), respectively. In contrast, the sensitivity and specificity of CR of 44 joints was 85% (95% Cl, 80%-89%) and 38% (95% Cl, 25%-52%), respectively, when HR-pQCT was used as reference. There was no significant difference between the sensitivities of patients classified as having erosive RA by HR-pQCT or CR (2.14; P = .177).
Study details: Data come from a single-center cross-sectional study of 353 patients with established RA.
Disclosures: The study received support from the Aarhus University Research Foundation, Danish Rheumatism Association, Novo Nordic Foundation, and A.P. Møller Fonden. E M Hauge and B Langdahl reported receiving grants and personal fees from various sources. All the other authors reported no conflicts of interest.
Source: Klose-Jensen R et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 May 20. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab446 .