What is it about?
Distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint involvement, albeit rare, was demonstrated to be associated with high disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), based on a nationwide RA database in Japan, NinJa.
Featured Image
Photo by Roméo A. on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Previous studies have suggested that the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints are spared from the swelling and pain in patients with RA that typically affects the small joints of the hands. Therefore, when a patient presents with DIP symptoms such as tenderness and/or swelling at disease onset, some rheumatologists would argue that the differential diagnosis should place an emphasis on osteoarthritis (OA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) rather than RA. However, research suggests that the DIP joints can also be affected in patients with RA. The present study aimed to examine the frequency of DIP joint involvement among patients with RA, and demonstrated its relationship with high disease activity, using the National Database of Rheumatic Diseases in Japan (NinJa).
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Distal Interphalangeal Joint Involvement May Be Associated with Disease Activity and Affected Joint Distribution in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Journal of Clinical Medicine, March 2022, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/jcm11051405.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
