Article

Brachydactyly (BD) is a general term for inappropriately short fingers
and/or toes. The author previously reported that a short metacarpal bone had a
protective effect on the metacarpophalangeal joint of the same finger in
rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The objective was to investigate the prevalence of BD
in patients with RA and its potential effect on the phenotype, especially erosive
changes. METHODS: A total of 1524 Korean patients with RA were recruited. The
presence of BD on hand radiographs, rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic
citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP), HLA-DRB1 shared epitopes (SE), risk
haplotypes of peptidyl deiminase type IV (PADI4) and erosive joint stage, and
smoking status, were determined. RESULTS: The prevalence of BD was 7.9% (n=120)
in our RA cohort. The types of BD were type A3 (79.2%), type D (15.0%), Kirner
deformity (14.2%), and type E (6.7%). RA patients with BD had reduced erosion on
hand radiographs (OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.34-0.95, p=0.029) adjusted for age, sex,
disease duration, smoking, RF, anti-CCP, SE, and PADI4. CONCLUSION: BD is more
common in RA patients than might be expected. BD may have a protective effect on
erosive changes in RA independent of previously well-established risk factors
such as seropositivity, SE, PADI4, and smoking.
CI - Copyright (c) 2011 Societe francaise de rhumatologie. Published by Elsevier SAS.
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Langue : ANGLAIS