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MRI erosion scores may identify progression of structural joint damage in patients with RA
Researchers of this study validated 12-week and 24-week MRI erosion scores to study structural joint damage progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
“[T]hese data support the incorporation of MRI erosion scores into clinical trial designs to study the effects of new therapies on structural joint damage progression in [rheumatoid arthritis] RA,” Joshua F. Baker, MD, MSCE, from the Division of Rheumatology in the Department of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues wrote in their study. “We encourage regulatory agencies to consider MRI as a valid and efficient structural damage end point that, if used in trials, would decrease the sample size and durations of clinical trials, enhancing the development of novel therapies.”
Joshua F. Baker
To validate the rheumatoid arthritis MRI score (RAMIS), Baker and colleagues evaluated the radiographs of 637 methotrexate-naïve patients from the GO-BEFORE study at baseline and at 12-week, 24-week and 52-week follow-up, according to the abstract. The RAMRIS score was calculated from MRI and van der Heijde-Sharp (vdHS) scores obtained through the radiographs, with progression identified as a change in damage scores of greater than 0.5. The researchers also compared associations of X-ray and MRI outcomes with clinical features.
They found patients with early MRI progression also showed higher baseline DAS28 and vdHS scores and higher 2-year health assessment questionnaire scores, and there were similar associations with vdHS scores at 52 weeks, according to the abstract. Compared with 52-week vdHS scores, differences in change in structural damage achieved significance in fewer patients when 12-week or 24-week MRI erosion scores were used (275 patients vs. 150 patients). Baker and colleagues could determine differences in the proportion progressing with 234 patients using 12-week MRI erosion scores in an enriched sample, whereas between 468 patients and 1,160 patients were needed to detect proportion progression differences using 1-year X-ray scores. – by Jeff Craven
Disclosures: Baker reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ financial disclosures.