Internal Med

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

Changes over time in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in a 10-year cohort
Journal of Rheumatology, 10/19/09

Morvan J et al. – ACR criteria for RA showed poor performance even at 2 years. The absence of exclusion criteria may explain the lack of specificity, which improved when combined with the OBR diagnosis. Adding anti-CCP criteria to the existing criteria could help in diagnosing RA.

• 270 patients with recent-onset arthritis of < 1 y duration were included between 1995 and 1997 and followed for 2 years
• Diagnosis recorded by office-based rheumatologist (OBR) at inclusion, and 2 years later
• In 2007, questionnaire sent to each rheumatologist to collect the final diagnosis
• Final diagnosis considered reference

• Final diagnosis available for 164 patients: 57 had RA
• Agreement was low between baseline and final diagnoses, and substantial between the 2-y and final diagnoses
• Anti-CCP-revised criteria had sensitivity of 65% to 81% and specificity of 55% to 75%
• Combination OBR diagnosis/ACR criteria after 2 y showed considerably increased specificity (87% vs 64%) and slightly decreased sensitivity (77% vs 81%)

Today in Rheumatology...keeping you current

Receive free subspecialty "5-minute updates" via email

Alendronate reduces osteoclast precursors in osteoporosis
Osteoporosis International, 12/09/09

Psychological correlates of self-reported functional limitation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis
Arthritis Research & Therapy, 12/09/09

The Use of Micronutrient Supplements Is Not Associated with Better Quality of Life and Disease Activity in Canadian Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Journal of Rheumatology, 12/09/09

 See all of Rheumatology