Patient-reported flares among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis are linked to inflammation detected through serial MRI and ultrasound, according to findings published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.
“There is limited evidence about the relation between patient-reported flare and inflammatory lesions on imaging,” Dorota Kuettel, MD, of the University Hospital of Southern Denmark, and colleagues wrote. “A cross-sectional study reported [ultrasound] tenosynovitis to be associated with the FLARE-RA questionnaire, which is designed to detect flares between clinical visits. There are no published data investigating a potential link between patient-reported flares and inflammation detected by MRI.”