Recent rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials using radiographic endpoints -Updated research agenda

Recent randomized controlled trials of traditional and newly developed ther apies provide evidence that we have interventions that potentially slow or prevent structural damage in active rheumatoid arthritis, as measured using radiography. These trials also provide a unique opportunity for explorator y data analysis to generate hypotheses apropos the pathogenesis and determi nants of radiographic progression and functional disability; they also faci litate further study of the methodological issues regarding imaging measure ment.