Effectiveness of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging for the efficacy of biologic anti-rheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A retrospective pilot study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the scoring of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WBMRI) for efficacy assessment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs).

METHODS

Thirty consecutive RA patients receiving bDMARDs were included in this retrospective study. Contrast WBMRI was performed before and 1 year after bDMARDs initiation.

RESULTS

At baseline, mean age was 57.1 years and mean disease duration was 3.0 years. Median disease activity score in 28 joints improved from 5.1 to 2.1. Treatment with bDMARDs improved mean whole-body synovitis score from 31.2 to 23.2 and median whole-body bone-edema score from 11 to 3. Whole-body bone-erosion score improved in seven patients and deteriorated in 17 patients. Logistic regression analysis identified whole-body synovitis score as a poor prognostic factor for whole-body bone-erosion progression. Bone-edema score in individual bones was identified as a poor prognostic factor for the progression of bone-erosion. Changes in hand synovitis score correlated with those of other joints, but neither changes in bone-edema nor erosion score of hands correlated with those of other joints in WBMRI.

CONCLUSIONS

WBMRI scoring may be a novel useful tool to evaluate the efficacy of anti-rheumatic drugs, as well as a potential predictor of joint prognosis, in patients with RA.