A preliminary study of ultrasound aspiration of bone erasion in early rheumatoid arthritis

Objective. To develop a new technique to assess the primary lesion in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Ten patients with early RA and radiographically or MRI confirmed e rosions had a needle introduced into the base of the erosion under sonograp hic guidance. Material was then aspirated from this site. Results. The procedure was well tolerated with no complications. Small samp les of necrotic bone and tissue were obtained in five out of 10 cases. In o ne case, a distinctive population of pleomorphic CD34+ cells with character istics of bone marrow progenitors was isolated. Tissue invading bone with a characteristic appearance of pannus was not seen. Conclusion. A new method of sampling the earliest lesion in RA is described . The findings raise questions about the nature of bone damage in early RA.