Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Osteoarthritis

Subchondral bone erosion in hand OA: insights into the role of inflammation

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 8, page 501 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

Erosive hand osteoarthritis (EOA) is a subset of hand osteoarthritis (HOA) in which subchondral erosions are seen on radiographs of the interphalangeal joints (IPJs). EOA is associated with a higher clinical burden than nonerosive disease. The pathogenesis of EOA is not well understood, but inflammation is thought to be involved. This theory, together with their previous work suggesting an underlying systemic cause for erosion development, led Marion Kortekaas et al. to perform a study in which they show that more inflammatory signs are present in joints from patients with EOA than those with non-EOA, even in joints that are nonerosive.

Consecutive patients (n = 64) being seen at a rheumatology outpatient clinic at the Leiden University Medical Centre who met the American College of Rheumatology criteria for HOA were recruited, and 55 of these were included in this cross-sectional study. The Verbruggen–Veys anatomical phase score was used to assess radiographs of all 18 IPJs, and ultrasonography was used to assess joint effusion, synovial thickness and power Doppler signal (PDS; a measurement of vascularization, which in a joint indicates active inflammation).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Kortekaas, M. C. et al. In erosive hand osteoarthritis more inflammatory signs on ultrasound are found than in the rest of hand osteoarthritis. Ann. Rheum. Dis. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201458

Download references

Authors
  1. Jenny Buckland
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Buckland, J. Subchondral bone erosion in hand OA: insights into the role of inflammation. Nat Rev Rheumatol 8, 501 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.137

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.137

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing