Diagnosis of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: what the Non-Specialist Needs to Know

Gabriel S.E. , Crowson C.S. , O'Fallon W.M. Mortality in rheumatoid arthritis; have we made an impact in 4 decades? J Rheumatol 1999; 26: 2529–33

Pincus T. , Callahan L.F. , Sale W.G. , Brooks A.L. , Payne L.E. , Vaughn W. Severe functional declines, work disability and increased mortality in seventy five RA patients studied over 9 years. Arthritis Rheum 1984; 27: 864–72

Young A. , Dixey J. , Cox N. . How does functional disability in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affect patients and their lives? Results of 5 years of follow-up in 732 patients from the Early RA study (ERAS). Rheumatology 2000; 39: 603–1

Van der Heijde D.M. , van Leeuwen M.A. , van Riel P.L. . Biannual radiographic assessments of hands and feet in a three year prospective follow up of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 1992; 35: 26–34

Fuchs H.A. , Kaye J.J. , Callahan L.F. , Nance E.P. , Pincus T. Evidence of significant radiographic damage in rheumatoid arthritis within 2 years of disease. J Rheumatol 1989; 16: 585–91

Brook A. , Corbett M. Radiographic changes in early rheumatoid disease. Ann Rheum Dis 1977; 36: 71–3

McGonagle D. , Green M.J. , Proudman S. . The majority of patients with rheumatoid arthritis have erosive disease at presentation when magnetic resonance imaging of the dominant hand is employed. Br J Rheumatol 1997; 36(suppl 1): 121

Ostergaard M. , Szkudlarek M. Imaging in rheumatoid arthritis—why MRI and ultrasonography can no longer be ignored. Scand J Rheumatol 2003; 32: 63–73

Wakefield R.J. , Gibbon W.W. , Conaghan P.G. . The value of sonography in the detection of bone erosions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; a comparison with conventional radiography. Arthritis Rheum 2000; 43: 2762–70

McQueen F.M. , Stewart N. , Crabbe J. . Magnetic resonance imaging of the wrist in early rheumatoid arthritis reveals a high prevalence of erosions at 4 months after symptom onset. Ann Rheum Dis 1998; 57: 350–6

Gough A.K.S. , Lilley J. , Eyre S. , Holder R.L. , Emery P. Generalised bone loss in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet 1994; 344: 23–7

Deodhar A.A. , Brabyn J. , Jones P.W. , Davis M.J. , Woolf A.D. Longitudinal study of hand bone densitometry in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 1995; 38: 1204–10

Bukhari M.A.S. , Wiles N.J. , Lunt B.J. , Scott D.G.I. , Symmons D.P.M. , Silman A.J. Influence of disease modifying therapy on radiographic progression in inflammatory polyarthritis at five years. Arthritis Rheum 2003; 48: 46–53

Wiles N.J. , Lunt M. , Barrett E.M. . Reduced disability at 5 years with early treatment of inflammatory polyarthritis: results from a large observational cohort, using propensity models to adjust for disease severity. Arthritis Rheum 2001; 44: 1033–42

van der Heide A. , Jacobs J.W. , Bijlsma J.W. . The effectiveness of early treatment with second line anti-rheumatic drugs. A randomised controlled trial. Ann Intern Med 1996; 124: 699–707

Stenger A.A. , van Leeuwen M.A. , Houtman P.M. . Early effective suppression of inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis reduces radiographic progression. Br J Rheumatol 1998; 37: 1157–63

Egsmose C. , Lung B. , Borg G. Patients with RA benefit from early second-line therapy: 5-year follow-up of a prospective double-blind placebo-controlled study. J Rheumatol 1995; 22: 2207–13

Tsakonas E. , Fitzgerald A.A. , Fitzcharles M.A. Consequences of delayed therapy with second-line therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: a 3-year follow up on hydroxychloroquine in early rheumatoid arthritis (HERA) study. J Rheumatol 2000; 27: 623–9

Anderson J.J. , Wells G. , Verhoeven A.C. , Felson D.T. Factors predicting response to treatment in rheumatoid arthritis: the importance of disease duration. Arthritish Rheum 2000; 43: 22–9

Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network. Management of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis. Edinburgh: Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 2000

Suresh E. , Maiden N.L. , Dhillon V.B. , McRorie E.R. The impact of the publication of SIGN guideline on management of early rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology 2004; 43(suppl 2): 138

Chan K.W. , Felson D.T. , Yood R.A. , Walker A.M. The lag time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 1994; 37: 814–20

Gamez-Nava J.I. , Gonzalez-Lopez L. , Davis P. , Suarez-Almazor M.E. Referral and diagnosis of common rheumatic diseases by primary care physicians. Br J Rheumatol 1998; 37: 1215–19

Bolumar F. , Ruiz M.T. , Hernandez I. , Pascual E. Reliability of the diagnosis of rheumatic conditions at the primary health care level. J Rheumatol 1994; 21: 2344–8

Emery P. , Symmons D.P.M. What is early rheumatoid arthritis?: definition and diagnosis. Bailliere's Clin Rheumatol 1997; 11: 13–26

Emery P. The Dunlop-Dottridge Lecture: prognosis in inflammatory arthritis: the value of HLA genotyping and the oncological analogy. J Rheumatol 1997; 24: 1436–42

Symmons D.P. , Barrett E.M. , Bankhead C.R. , Scott D.G. , Silman A.J. The incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in the United Kingdom: results from the Norfolk arthritis register. Br J Rheumatol 1994; 33: 735–9

Arnett F.C. , Edworthy S.M. , Bloch D.A. . The American Rheumatism Association 1987

Quinn M.A. , Green M.J. , Marzo-Ortega H. . Prognostic factors in a large cohort of patients with early undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis after application of a structured management protocol. Arthritis Rheum 2003; 48: 3039–45

Green M. , Marzo-Ortego H. , McGonagle D. Persistence of mild, early inflammatory arthritis. Arthritish Rheum 1999; 42: 2184–8

Harrison B.J. , Symmons D.P.M. , Brennan P. , Barrett E.M. , Silman A.J. Natural remission in inflammatory polyarthritis: issues of definition and prediction. Br J Rheumatol 1996; 35: 1096–100

Tunn E.D. , Bacon P.A. Differentiating persistent from self-limiting symmetrical synovitis in an early arthritis clinic. Br J Rheumatol 1993; 32: 97–103

Woolf A.D. , Hall N.D. , Goulding N.J. . Predictors of the long-term outcome of early synovitis: A 5-year follow up study. Br J Rheumatol 1991; 30: 251–4

Visser H. , le Cessie S. , Vos K. , Breedveld F.C. , Hazes J.M.W. How to diagnose rheumatoid arthritis early? A prediction model for persistent (erosive) arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2002; 46: 357–65

Emery P. , Breedveld F.C. , Dougadas M. , Kalden J.R. , Schiff M.H. , Smolen J.S. Early referral recommendation for newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis: evidence based development of a clinical guide. Ann Rheum Dis 2002; 61: 290–7

Stross J.K. Relationships between knowledge and experience in the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic agents: a study of primary care practitioners. JAMA 1989; 262: 2721–3

Criswell L.A. , Such C.L. , Yelin E.H. Differences in the use of second-line agents and prednisone for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by rheumatologists and non-rheumatologists. J Rheumatol 1997; 24: 2290