Osteoarthritis Persists Despite Visual Evidence

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Osteoarthritis of the hands may be more widespread than previously thought, shows a study presented this weekend in Toronto at the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress on Osteoarthritis.

This was a case control study of 479 patients with interphalangeal osteoarthritis (with a KL score of two in two or more joints), and 479 healthy controls. Researchers found that healthy joints in patients with hand osteoarthritis showed a “significantly narrower JSW (4-10% less)” compared to joints of patients in the control group who did not have osteoarthritis.

“We showed that unaffected finger joints in adults with hand OA had significantly narrower joint space on radiographs than joints of healthy controls. This implies a systemic nature of hand OA, in which the patient may have a predisposition for general cartilage loss or thinner cartilage,” researchers stated. The research was presented by I. Onuoha, R. Lu, A. Mathiessen, et al. of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.