Safety of intra-articular injection of etanercept in small-joint arthritis: an uncontrolled, pilot-study with independent imaging assessment.

This study was conducted to test the safety of intra-articular tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) antagonists in small joints with arthritis. A dose of 2-8 mg etanercept was given intra-articularly guided by ultrasonography (US) in 26 patients with a flare of arthritis in a particular joint (16 wrists, two elbows, two ankles, six finger joints). Primary end points were imaging analyses by independent investigators: US-Doppler measurements were performed in all patients before and after the injection and MRI before and after were obtained in nine patients.

Magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of treatment response of lateral epicondylitis of the elbow.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the treatment response in lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) by MRI. Magnetic resonance imaging was obtained in 30 patients with clinical symptoms of lateral epicondylitis of the elbow using T1-, T2- and T2-weighted fat-saturated (FS) sequences. The patients were randomised to either i.

Volume estimation of extensor muscles of the lower leg based on MR imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging can be used to measure the muscle volume of a given muscle or muscle group. The purpose of this study was to determine both the intra- and inter-observer variation of the manually outlined volume of the extensor muscles (tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus and extensor hallucis longus), to estimate the minimum number of slices needed for these calculations and to compare estimates of volume based on an assumed conic shape of the muscles with that of an assumed cylindrical shape, the calculation in both cases based on the Cavalieri principle. Eleven young and healthy subjects (4 women and 7 men, age range 24-40 years) participated.

MRI of the wrist and finger joints in inflammatory joint diseases at 1-year interval: MRI features to predict bone erosions.

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of MRI determined synovial volumes and bone marrow oedema to predict progressions in bone erosions after 1 year in patients with different types of inflammatory joint diseases. Eighty-four patients underwent MRI, laboratory and clinical examination at baseline and 1 year later. Magnetic resonance imaging of the wrist and finger joints was performed in 22 patients with rheumatoid arthritis less than 3 years (group 1) who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for rheumatoid arthritis, 18 patients with reactive arthritis or psoriatic arthritis (group 2), 22 patients with more than 3 years duration of rheumatoid arthritis, who fulfilled the ACR criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (group 3), and 20 patients with arthralgia (group 4).

MRI of the arthritic finger joints: synovial membrane volume determination, a manual vs a stereologic method.

The aim of this study was to compare the stereology method for estimation of synovial volume on MR images with manually outlining method in inflammatory joint diseases. As manual outlining of the synovial volume is too time-consuming a method for clinical use, a less time-consuming methods are needed. Post-contrast 3D T1-weighted turbo gradient MR images of the finger (metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal) joints (14 joints) were acquired from 11 patients with rheumatoid arthritis ( n=8) and reactive arthritis ( n=3).