PHILADELPHIA – An international group of researchers has proposed the first classification criteria for chronic nonbacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) and a severe form of it, chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO).
CNO/CRMO most frequently affect children and adolescents and can significantly affect quality of life.
Dr. Yongdong (Dan) Zhao
Yongdong (Dan) Zhao, MD, PhD, a pediatric rheumatologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Washington, and Seza Ozen, MD, MSc, medical faculty head at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey – members of the expert panel for criteria development – explained the proposed criteria, developed over 6 years, at the American College of Rheumatology 2022 Annual Meeting.
They gave examples of the point system that will help researchers correctly classify CNO/CRMO if the criteria are approved by ACR and the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR).
Dr. Melissa S. Oliver
Melissa S. Oliver, MD, a pediatric rheumatologist at Riley Children’s Hospital and Indiana University, Indianapolis, told this news organization: “This proposal is important because CNO/CRMO has primarily been a diagnosis of exclusion. There are no specific tests or biomarkers for this disease. It can mimic malignancy and infectious osteomyelitis in its presentation, and these must be ruled out thoroughly first.”
However, she noted, this can be challenging and can delay diagnosis and treatment.
The classification criteria are novel, she said, because an international collaborative group used a consensus process involving physicians managing CNO and patients or caregivers of children with CNO.
Findings for and against CNO
Dr. Ozen summarized some examples of findings for and against a CNO/CRMO classification.
Statistically significant findings in favor of CNO/CRMO, she said, include intermittent bone pain; bone pain in upper torso; swelling of upper torso; presence of symmetric lesions; and presence of adaptive immune cell and/or fibrosis in biopsy.
Conversely, findings against CNO/CRMO include fever; signs of infection by labs; signs of cancer by biopsy; specific abnormal x-ray/CT scan; specific abnormal MRI; or pain resolved with antibiotics alone.
Dr. Zhao described a point system with a threshold of 55 points for classification of CNO/CRMO.
He gave actual examples from the registry to demonstrate high and low probability of CNO/CRMO.
Pro-CNO example
The first was a boy, aged 7 years 10 months, who had a year and a half of pain in his back and legs, but no fever. Pain was constant, waxing and waning. He had a personal and family history of psoriasis and was tender to palpation at multiple sites. Labs were normal and bone biopsy and vitamin C tests were not done; imaging findings showed multiple bones were affected. There was no antibiotic treatment.
That patient was scored 81, much higher than the threshold of 55, and would be classified as having CNO.
Non-CNO example
Conversely, the following example of a patient would score 47 – under the threshold – and would not be classified as having CNO.
That patient was an 11-year-old boy who had 2 months of pain in his right thigh with no fever. The pain was constantly waxing and waning. He was tender to palpation at only his right thigh without swelling. Labs were normal. He had no coexisting conditions. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were not measured, and no vitamin C test was performed. Imaging showed one right femur lesion on a PET-CT scan. There was no antibiotic treatment, and a bone biopsy culture showed malignancy but no inflammation or fibrosis.
Dr. Zhao said the mimickers most likely to be misclassified are vitamin C deficiency; hypophosphatasia; benign bone tumor, such as osteogenic osteoma; and a malignancy with normal labs and multifocal pattern of bone lesions.
The classification criteria will be “extremely helpful to diagnose patients with CNO/CRMO earlier,” said Dr. Oliver, who helped develop the criteria.
“The goal is that the proposed classification criteria will be used by all physicians to diagnose suspected CNO patients earlier and refer to a rheumatologist earlier so that appropriate therapies will not be delayed.”
The group will seek ACR and EULAR endorsement, and if granted, work toward widespread implementation. The criteria will allow researchers to have a more homogeneous study population for future clinical trials, Dr. Zhao said.
Dr. Zhao, Dr. Ozen, and Dr. Oliver declared no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Oliver helped develop the proposed guidelines.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.