EVALUATION OF RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS USING A SCORING SYSTEM DEVISED FROM MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING OF RHEUMATOID KNEES

We studied the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 120 knees in 86 rhe umatoid arthritis (RA) patients and of 14 unaffected knees in 12 contr ol cases. We also developed a scoring system as a quantitative analysi s method. We divided the MRI into 10 items, and classified the severit y of the symptoms into 4 grades (score 0 to 3). The average total scor e increased according to the radiographic grade. Soft tissue lesions w ere clearly detected, even in the early stages of RA. Items such as sy novial proliferation showed a high score even in the early stages, sug gesting that it was the initial symptom of RA. The score also showed a correlation with the inflammatory signs. These results suggest that t his scoring system is very sensitive and yields a good reflection of R A activity. We demonstrated that this system is simple and convenient for routine diagnostic use. We further demonstrated that it is useful for following the advancement of RA and for evaluating the response to treatment.