Whole-body MRI of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica identifies a distinct subset with complete patient-reported response to glucocorticoids.

Sarah Louise Mackie, Colin Thomas Pease, Eiji Fukuba, Emma Harris, Paul Emery, Richard Hodgson, Jane Freeston, Dennis McGonagle

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    OBJECTIVES: To determine whether whole-body MRI defines clinically relevant subgroups within polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) including glucocorticoid responsiveness. METHODS: 22 patients with PMR and 16 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), untreated and diagnosed by consultant rheumatologists, underwent whole-body, multiple-joint MRI, scored by two experts. Patients with PMR reported whether they felt 'back to normal' on glucocorticoid therapy and were followed for a median of 2 years. RESULTS: All patients with PMR were deemed to respond to glucocorticoids clinically. A characteristic pattern of symmetrical, extracapsular inflammation, adjacent to greater trochanter, acetabulum, ischial tuberosity and/or symphysis pubis, was observed in 14/22 of the PMR cases. In PMR, this pattern was associated with complete glucocorticoid response (p=0.01), higher pretreatment C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), and better post-treatment fatigue and function. Only 1/14 in the extracapsular group could stop glucocorticoids within 1 year, compared with 4/7 of the others. A score derived from the five sites discriminating best between PMR and RA correlated with IL-6 (p
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalAnnals of the rheumatic diseases
    Volume74
    Issue number12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2015

    Keywords

    • Cytokines
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
    • Polymyalgia Rheumatica

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