Beyond the synovium—interosseus tendon inflammation and the development of rheumatoid arthritis

In The Lancet Rheumatology, Bastiaan van Dijk and colleagues 1 van Dijk BT Wisse LJ van Steenbergen HW et al. Interosseous tendon inflammation in the hands of patients with clinically suspect arthralgia: analysis of MRI data from a prospective cohort study. Lancet Rheumatol. 2023; 5: e401-e412 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar investigate the significance of interosseous tendon inflammation in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis. They examine the presence of interosseous tendon inflammation using MRI in both asymptomatic individuals and patients with clinically suspect arthralgia. Additionally, they explore the relationship between interosseous tendon inflammation and inflammation of other joint tissues such as synovitis, tenosynovitis, and osteitis, as well as its association with symptoms and the development of clinical arthritis. The study also evaluates the presence of local tenosynovium using immunohistochemistry. Interosseous tendon inflammation in the hands of patients with clinically suspect arthralgia: analysis of MRI data from a prospective cohort studyInterosseous tendon inflammation is almost absent in symptom-free individuals but occurs in people with clinically suspect arthralgia, in whom it correlates with symptoms and is associated with the development of clinical arthritis. The absence of local tenosynovium suggests that interosseous tendon inflammation arises from expanding local subclinical inflammation in the pre-arthritis phase of rheumatoid arthritis. Full-Text PDF