Assessment of Radiological Changes in the Hands and Feet in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Their Correlation with Prognosis

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Abstract
Patients, (105) was definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis were assessed with respect to their clinical state and the degree of radiological involvement of the hands and feet. In 96 (91%), there were definite radiological changes of the disease; and in 17 (16%), the hand radiographs were normal although the food radiographs showed the typical changes of the disease. A small group had symptomless feet although their foot films showed definite rheumatoid erosions. There was good correlation between severity of radiological changes in the hands and feet and other parameters of disease activity (notably a positive latex-fixation test, the presence of nodules, a raised erythrocyte sedimentation (E.S.R.) and a lowered hemoglobin level. Most patients showed steady deterioration of the radiological changes with time.